


(Im)Perfectly (Re)Arranged

by livian



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Arranged Marriage, Corrin is a bisexual disaster child but that's just canon, F/M, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright Spoilers, Leo is a demi disaster but just more lowkey about his disasterness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pseudo-Incest, Slow Burn, and will be for plot and character development purposes ofc, but any smut will be kept as tasteful as i can manage, everybody needs a hug, it will also be awkward haha, rating will eventually change to M, these two stubborn dorks are going about this whole relationship thing in the completely wrong order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-23 18:24:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14338395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livian/pseuds/livian
Summary: Though the war between Hoshido and Nohr ended three years ago, tensions between them haven’t ceased.  Desperate for peace once and for all, Corrin chooses a course of action: if she, a princess of Hoshido, marries the new king of Nohr, it will strengthen their alliance and set a good example for the people.  The only problem is the blood lying between her and King Leo—not blood relation, like she once believed, but the blood of their loved ones shed in the war.  Those memories refuse to leave.While Camilla is eager to get their sister back, Leo knows it isn’t going to be so simple.  She might be regaining her sister, but Leo is gaining a wife and an awkward new life.  Camilla claims that he can learn to love Corrin in time, but Leo refuses to entertain the idea, in the wake of their family’s losses.  His brotherly love weakened him once.  Romantic love would be even worse.Luckily, Corrin agrees.  Theirs is a marriage for politics, nothing more.  Only… it’s difficult for things to stay the way they used to be, when everyone in the court believes they’ve fallen in love.  And when the kingdom requires an heir.Not to mention the way that tensions between Nohr and Hoshido might actually be escalating.





	1. Veins of Light

**Author's Note:**

> _“Why can’t I even breathe,_  
>  _Standing in the wreckage?_  
>  _The rain, a lullaby,_  
>  _And so I close my eyes.”_  
>  —[ “Here,” English cover by AmaLee ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnPZstS9DQ)

Corrin sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, her fingers drumming restless rhythms on her knees as she pondered the shogi board. Takumi had promoted his second silver general and was poised to capture her king, yet again. And here she was, still barely able to remember all the rules of the game.

Corrin’s memory was a tricky thing. Easy things like the rules of shogi, or the names of cities, or what the Hoshidan royal family had for dinner the previous evening—some days, they slipped through her grasp like water. Sometimes, she forgot bigger things too. Harder things. The last words she spoke to someone. The sounds of beloved voices that had once been more familiar than her own.

And yet the hardest things of all—it seemed like she could never forget those. It had been three years now. Almost to the day. And yet the memories still rippled behind her eyelids.

Across the table, Takumi heaved a loud sigh. “Are you going to make a move anytime soon? If you aren’t, just let me know and I’ll go grab a book or something.”

Corrin jolted from her thoughts with a soft yelp.

Takumi chuckled. “Gods, Kamui, you really _were_ lost in thought.”

Three years… and yet it still took her a moment to recognize that her brother was addressing her. Even though everyone in her homeland called her by the name of her birth, she still couldn’t get accustomed to it. Her earliest _clear_ memories were of being called by a different name, by different siblings.

“I-I’m sorry, Takumi,” she said quickly. “If you’d like to do something else instead, go ahead. My head is having trouble staying in the game.”

Takumi shrugged. “I mean, Felicia claims that playing shogi with you qualifies as studying politics and strategy. So if you want to be technical about it, I’m studying right now.”

Corrin smiled at him, but her heart twinged. _I know why she told him that. Neither of them wants to leave me alone at this time of year._ Her family, her retainers, her friends… She appreciated everyone looking out for her, but it made her chest feel tight and full of thorns. At least with Takumi, she could tell herself that she was helping him as much as he was helping her, because he still had nightmares too. They lingered under his eyes some mornings.

“You just want to beat me again,” she accused him.

“What, are you wanting me to deny it?” he teased. “I thought you wanted me to be honest with you, sister.”

Her laugh this time was genuine. “Fine, fine,” she said and made her next move.

He trounced her thoroughly within the minute, to nobody’s surprise. The proud smile glowing on his face kept Corrin from feeling sore about it, though. She’d long ago accepted the fact that she was doomed to be an idiot when compared to her younger brothers.

Oh, and there went her chest again, clenching with soft pain. She thought of a dark castle across the continent and wondered how her other family—or its remaining pieces—how the family that had raised her was coping with the anniversary.

Takumi’s laughter faded as he caught the look on his sister’s face. “I—I mean, don’t get me wrong. You put up a good fight. I’m kind of impressed, actually.”

“Really?” Corrin grinned, clutching a hand dramatically against her chest. “The royal advisor himself, renowned for his wisdom, is impressed by _me_? Where are the scribes when we need them? Somebody needs to write this down.”

“Shut up.” He rolled his eyes, though she noticed that his chest puffed with pride.

She was serious, though. Her Hoshidan siblings had all done so well for themselves in the past few years. Ryoma was already creating a venerable legacy as king, and he’d recently added “father” to his list of titles, as well. Hinoka acted as general to the Hoshidan army, though hopefully they wouldn’t need an army again anytime soon. Takumi was a respected political advisor at his young age, and he continued to improve himself every day. And Sakura worked tirelessly alongside her retainers to heal her people in body and spirit. Corrin was so proud of them all.

And yet she’d been standing still since the war ended. She felt like a wobbly child first struggling to walk. Relearning her own country’s customs, stumbling over honorifics and getting Hoshidan and Nohrian ideologies mixed up and fumbling with chopsticks for months before getting the hang of them. Smiling when the royal family stepped out in public amidst cheers, but feeling every whisper of “our hero” as if it was a dark blade.

In Hoshido, there was a practice called _kintsugi_ , which Corrin had learned about after she’d accidentally knocked over a vase during a nightmare. It was the art of taking the pieces of shattered pottery and repairing them with gold-dusted lacquer.

 _“But… doesn’t this just make it obvious that the vase has been broken?”_ she had asked when Sakura first talked her through the process.

Sakura’s eyes had sparkled. _“Th-the point isn’t to hide that the vase was once broken,”_ she’d told her. _“That moment becomes a part of the vase’s history. The veins of gold running through it are a sign that it was broken and repaired again. We believe that it makes it even more beautiful.”_

And Corrin had wished that the same could be said for people. If her veins beat with gold instead of blood… maybe she could forgive.

Corrin glanced up from the tatami mat at the sound of approaching footsteps. The clink of familiar armor signaled the person’s identity before the door even slid open.

“Ryoma,” Takumi said with a grin. “Guess who just—” He stopped short at their eldest sibling’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

Ryoma paused to close the door. Once it was shut, his regal posture faded. His shoulders drooped, and his head lowered as he spoke. “There was another attack. Multiple attacks, in fact.”

Corrin’s pulse spiked. “What?”

“I just received word that an immigrant family from Nohr was attacked within our borders,” he said in a low voice, “by our own people. And on top of that, within the same week, there was another incident of Hoshidans being assaulted while visiting Nohr.”

Takumi’s shoulders tensed. Corrin started to reach across the table to soothe him, only to find that her own muscles were just as taut.

“Even more troubling,” said Ryoma, “is the fact that this most recent incident seemed especially well-organized. It was more than just an impulsive attack.”

“How… How many casualties?” Takumi asked.

“Nearly thirty.”

Corrin’s hands began to tremble.

If she stared at them for too long, she could still see blood darkening under her fingernails. Maybe she couldn’t remember all the rules of shogi, but she could remember the feel of her blade burrowing through flesh. The heavy scent of death tunneled into her lungs, wrenching them, making them grind against her ribs—

Takumi kicked her foot under the table. “Hey. Kamui.”

“Ouch,” she hissed, tucking her legs safely underneath her. But surely her face conveyed her gratitude, because the worry in his eyes softened. She hesitated a moment, glancing from Takumi to Ryoma and back. “D-do you think we’re going to have another war?”

“I hope not,” said Ryoma.

“I _know_ not,” Takumi added, folding his arms rigidly across his chest. “We’ll find a way to prevent it, for sure.”

Corrin regarded him for a moment, remembering all the history books he’d pored through recently. Her heart was hammering uselessly in her chest, her stomach twisting in knots, but surely Takumi would know how to resolve this. “How have conflicts like this been resolved quickly in the past?”

“That’s a difficult question,” he said. “People have tried a lot of quick, easy solutions throughout history… but most of those solutions were like sticking a finger-sized bandage over a gaping wound. It stopped a bit of the bleeding, but not very well. Not for long.”

“Then… how were conflicts resolved more permanently?” she asked.

Takumi’s gaze flickered down to the shogi board. “The thing about the more permanent, binding solutions is that they’re always the hardest, sister.”

Corrin lifted her chin, resolve heating her blood. “I’ll do whatever I can to secure lasting peace. No matter how hard the solution is, it can’t be as hard as another war.”

Ryoma smiled down at her. “Well spoken.”

Takumi scoffed. “In that case,” he said flippantly, “how would you feel about marrying the king of Nohr?”

Her blood froze. Her heart forgot its rabbit-fast pace. The room around her went silent.

Her mind flew to a dark castle across the continent, and the remaining pieces of the family that she had shattered. The throne room where she had slain a dragon that she had once called Father, and the young king who occupied the throne now. The dark blood lurking beneath her fingernails, always.

“…Kamui? I was just teasing you, you know. Kamui…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And at (long) last, I am here! (That would be funnier if you listened to the song I linked at the beginning, guys. It's one of my main theme songs for this fic, and also AmaLee is supremely talented, so there's that.)
> 
> But seriously, I've been working on this fic since summer 2016! Isn't that wild? It's not finished yet, or anywhere close to it, but I decided to go ahead and start posting to give myself incentive to actually keep working consistently. When I started outlining this, there weren't any post-BR fics out yet to my knowledge. I know that's changed now, but as of now, I'm not going to read any others until I finish this fic, to avoid accidental idea theft. I'm sure there'll be some commonalities (I mean, there's only so many places you can go with this) but I'll do my best to do some fun things with the concept. And some angsty things. And some other things. I don't know, guys, but things will happen.
> 
> To all of my readers of previous Kamuleo fics, welcome back! And hello to anyone who's new to my work. I hope you enjoy your stay. This one's gonna start out pretty angsty, but I promise we'll have lots of cuteness and stuff too. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments; I'll do my best to get back to you before too long!
> 
> (Edit: Also, I posted this first chapter on my little brother's birthday without thinking. I don't know... what that says about me as a person... that I would post about THIS ship on his special day. This is why he doesn't love me.) (Jk, he's grudgingly accepted my many flaws.)
> 
> Finally, in this one, since I've spent so freaking long outlining/drafting this, I can have a preview section. So, next chapter: _"What have I told you about going through my mail, Camilla?"_


	2. A Dark Gleam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Weep for yourself, my man—_   
>  _You’ll never be what is in your heart._   
>  _Weep, little lion man._   
>  _You’re not as brave as you were at the start.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> —“Little Lion Man,” Mumford and Sons

Leo finally allowed his posture to fall as he returned to his chambers, in the wake of another long, fruitless meeting with the nobles of his court. The list of casualties still rang in his ears. He hadn’t known any of the victims, but that didn’t change the fact that their wounds weighed on his shoulders. He should have prevented it somehow. It left him feeling cold.

A soft chuckle startled him. “No news, I take it?”

Leo turned to find Camilla seated at his writing desk. Three years ago, when she had begged him to take the throne in her stead, he had assumed that she would spend a lot more time away from Castle Krakenburg. Instead, here she was—sitting in his chair, absently toying with the stack of letters on his desk. There was a strange brightness in her eye.

Instantly, Leo was wary. That level of brightness could only indicate a few options, and he wanted none of them.

Option 1: her daughter had exhibited some new and completely typical baby behavior that Camilla found irrationally cute, and everyone else had _better_ find it cute too.

Option 2: Camilla had some amusing marital anecdote to share, which Leo didn’t want to hear because it involved both his sister and his only remaining retainer, and the two were a dangerous combination—especially dangerous to Leo’s sanity.

Option 3: Camilla had discovered something that was guaranteed to embarrass Leo, which delighted her because she claimed that an embarrassed Leo was “adorable” or something.

Honestly, he regretted ever wishing for her undivided attention as a child. He cared for her deeply, of course—she was the only family he had left—but Camilla’s affection could easily turn into smothering. In a figurative and literal sense.

“What is it?” he asked flatly.

A grin sprouted on Camilla’s face. “ _I_ have news that could help with the scuffles with Hoshido,” she said. She lifted the uppermost envelope, and Leo saw that its wax seal had been broken. “A letter came for you, from King Ryoma.”

“What have I told you about going through my mail, Camilla?”

“What have _I_ told you,” she echoed, “about letting other people share the weight? You shouldn’t carry everything alone.”

The sentiment warmed Leo’s chest—it was all he’d ever wished for when he was younger, an offered hand—but now… He couldn’t rely on her for things like this. He was a grown man with his father’s crown. And… he’d seen his strong oldest sister broken under too much stress three years ago. Wilting posture, bloodshot eyes blooming with tears, fingers shaking like petals in a storm. He never wanted to witness it again.

“I’m the king,” he said. “Seeing as you renounced your title, it isn’t your job to help me carry anything.”

Oddly, Camilla’s eye brightened again. Leo’s heart skipped. He wasn’t wary any longer. He’d surpassed wary. Now, he was afraid.

He stretched out a hand. “This letter… What does it say?”

“The Hoshidan royals aren’t happy with the recent conflicts, either,” said Camilla. “But they believe they’ve settled on a solution. King Ryoma proposes that we strengthen the bond between our countries with a marriage alliance.”

Leo’s response, half-formed before Camilla finished her sentence, perished inside his throat. “A…?” He took a moment to collect himself. “But… you’re already married. And if I recall correctly, so is King Ryoma. To Scarlet of Cheve, right?”

Her laughter boomed across his chambers. “A marriage for you, silly!”

A marriage for Leo? His pulse sped as he tried to ponder this. Ryoma’s oldest sister, Hinoka, was already married, so the king must have been thinking of the youngest sibling, Princess Sakura. Leo didn’t know her well, but by all accounts, her kindness was exceptional. From what he’d seen, she was quiet and thoughtful. If Leo had to marry for the sake of his country, Sakura was one of the more preferable options he could imagine. And if it would smooth over relations between Nohr and Hoshido…

He was already opening his mouth to answer when he caught that gleam in Camilla’s eye again, fever-bright, and he realized—no, that gleam was far too manic for it to be Princess Sakura.

Leo’s mind stalled for a minute. It froze, refusing to progress any further onto the path of that thought. Refusing to let him breathe. When his senses returned, Camilla was already prattling.

“…and then, we can be together just like we used to be!”

Leo blinked, still trying to process this absurdity that had gotten her so excited. “Excuse me?”

“Weren’t you listening? Corrin!” she exclaimed. “With this arrangement, we can get our darling sister back!”

He lifted a hand to cut her off. “You mean, you would be getting your sister back. _I_ would be gaining a wife and a very uncomfortable new living situation.”

The sharp edges of Camilla’s smile softened. The spark in her eye dimmed until it wasn’t so blinding. “Leo…”

Her voice was gentle. Motherly, he would say, except Camilla was the closest thing to a real mother that he’d ever known. Leo found himself unconsciously leaning toward that warmth in her tone, his hesitations being swayed despite himself—until she opened her mouth again.

“You can learn to love her in time.”

He took a step backward, farther from Camilla and his desk. “I do love her,” he said. “As a sister.”

Her eyes narrowed fondly. “You know what I mean.”

And Leo did know what she meant, and the idea froze him. Not just because from an objective standpoint, it was unthinkable—people would whisper, they would sneer, and if Xander were here, he would slap him for it—but because there was no chance that Leo would allow it.

He remembered being three years younger, barely more than a child, as he confronted Corrin and the Hoshidan army within the blackness of the Woods of the Forlorn. Even his brotherly love toward her had decimated him then. It had taken his careful strategies and torn them to shreds before his eyes. He had told himself that the sister he’d loved was dead—persuaded himself that he’d always resented her—hurled spells and bitter accusations at her. _“You chose the light and left those who love you most to rot in the dark.”_

But in the end, his heart had swayed him, no matter how hard he struggled to erase it. He had been powerless against it—unable to strike her down, even if it meant death.

(And he had been convinced that he was doing the right thing. But after everything ended in blood, he’d lain awake in the king’s chambers that didn’t yet feel like his own, and he’d asked himself: _If I had followed orders, if I had been able to kill Corrin like I was supposed to… could Xander and Elise have survived? Would they still be here, if only I’d been stronger?_ )

And that was _just_ brotherly love. Leo had witnessed the power of the romantic kind—had experienced what a bane it was. After all, he’d seen what the lust of the eyes and the heart had done to twist King Garon. The whims of his father’s heart and his lesser head, and the desires of his concubines to secure his affection, were responsible for making Leo and Camilla’s early childhood a living hell. For giving Leo a scar across his back that still hadn’t completely faded, and ruining Camilla’s left eye so she kept it eternally hidden beneath her hair.

There was no chance that Leo would ever fall victim to the same curse. Much less at the hands of the sister whom he’d enabled to shatter their family.

“Leo?” Camilla asked gently.

He startled. “Yes?”

“I… apologize for springing this on you,” she said with a soft smile. “I realize I’m being selfish. It’s just… it’s been so long since I’ve seen her face. The urge got the best of me. You know how I am….”

“I know,” said Leo, and in the face of her smile, his heart softened in return. What could he say? Brotherly love, destroying his reason again. “King Ryoma… genuinely believes that this would ease tensions between our countries?”

Camilla nodded. Hope flickered in her eye, though she was trying harder to hide it from him now.

Leo clasped his hands behind his back and considered it. He had known, since he was old enough to understand that he was royalty, that any marriage he entered into in the future would probably be politically motivated. Xander had been Father’s heir, and Camilla the spare in line behind him. As their younger sibling, Leo’s fate was a marriage alliance—that, he’d realized at the age of four.

Objectively speaking, was a marriage to Corrin—to Princess Kamui of Hoshido—really such a terrible prospect? Something worth his mind rebelling against it so forcefully? She was someone he knew. Not so much now, but he’d known her since they were children. They had played together, bickered and laughed, spent hours together in the library as he read to her. She had given him his first headband when he was little. Although they were very different in some ways, their personalities… probably weren’t incompatible. He’d never disliked her as a person, even when he’d tried. And aesthetically speaking, she wasn’t awful to look at (even if he’d seen her in far too many states of childhood disarray to ever consider her a world-class beauty).

In fact, if not for the tiny detail of her betrayal of Nohr resulting in the deaths of Leo’s brother and younger sister, he would have trouble finding many flaws in the arrangement.

“She’s…” He grasped the first excuse he stumbled upon. “She’s still our sister, though.”

“Everyone knows that there is no blood between the two of you,” Camilla said evenly.

Except that was a lie. Maybe there was no shared blood between them, no biological relation, but a river of blood split them apart now. Xander’s and Elise’s blood, and Father’s, and that of her comrades who had fallen too. It was that blood that posed the issue.

But Leo reminded himself of the twenty-eight casualties of the most recent attack within Nohr’s borders. He made himself feel the weight of those lives crushing down on his shoulders. All of those lights snuffed out. And he reminded himself that, for the sake of peace, Elise had sacrificed her own life, and now that peace was in danger again.

_And all that you have to do to save it… is agree to enter into a political marriage like you always knew you were going to have to do, anyway._

Leo sighed and steeled himself for the inevitability. “I’m not going to make any promises, Camilla,” he said before his sister’s hopes could rise too high. “But I’ll agree to discuss it with King Ryoma.”

Camilla squealed. “Ahhh, I’m so excited! This is going to be wonderful. My two sweet, precious little siblings are getting married!”

“To each other,” he pointed out flatly.

“Yes! Who else would be good enough for either of you? That’s why I’m so happy.”

Leo cringed. Again, his mind wanted to freeze up. “Camilla, please… do us all a favor and never, ever say that again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I mean, in my opinion, Camilla has her priorities completely in order. Leo/Corrin wedding = most important thing. In all seriousness, though, Camilla's interactions with Leo and Corrin have to be one of my favorite things about writing IPRA, at least in terms of how far I've gotten in my drafts so far. She loves them both so much and she just wants to make them happy. And has no idea how close she is to pushing her brother to a mental breakdown right now. I love Camilla. Truly the most radiant _onee-sama_.
> 
> (On that note: when I started my first draft of IPRA, I was going to have the Hoshido fam use sibling honorifics and such, but it quickly became a mess considering I am: not Japanese or fluent in the language, and also not familiar with which honorifics they used for their older siblings in the original Japanese version of FE14. So that got scrapped really darn quick. I don't even know why I'm bringing it up now, except as a potential point of interest to, like, one or two of you at most.)
> 
> Speaking of you guys! Thanks so much to all of you for reading this fic, and especially to those of you who have commented! I know every writer says this, but comments do legitimately make my day and make me want to work harder to make this a good story, so I appreciate you a lot! Also, for anybody who wants to keep up with me, I made a Twitter account: @official_livian. I've posted a couple of poorly drawn doodles of these precious kiddos on there, and I also talk about this fic sometimes. Also I'm just Fates/Leokamu trash in general, but you already knew that, I hope.
> 
> Next chapter preview: _"Something solidified inside her ribs, warm and bright. She had been looking at this marriage alliance the wrong way."_


	3. A Small Price

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“It’s through your kindness._   
>  _I’ll always be grateful,_   
>  _And I’ll strive to become stronger._   
>  _I’m on the way._   
>  _It’s so nostalgic._   
>  _Maybe all the love is worth the pain.”_
> 
> — "Again," English cover by AmaLee 

Corrin was distracted all evening as she ate dinner with the rest of her family. Her older siblings and their spouses chattered across the table, their attention diverted by the adorable antics of baby Shiro. But Corrin’s younger siblings exchanged concerned frowns, and both Takumi and Sakura kept glancing at her throughout the meal.

She tried to hide the feeling—from their sight and from her own notice—but it was impossible to bite it back.

_If only I hadn’t read so many romance novels when I was trapped in the Northern Fortress._ They had been her solace then, when she was so lonely, but now she feared they had given her unrealistic expectations. She was a princess and she knew what that entailed, but somewhere along the line, she had come to daydream about marrying someone because she was in love.

She had daydreamed about it in her tower, even letting her hair grow long in the half-sheathed hope that her true love might climb it someday. ( _“That would snap your neck, you know,”_ little Leo had told her with his arms crossed. _“Also, why does everyone believe you can fall in love with strangers?”_ And that was the last time she brought that dream up.) She had even daydreamed about it during the war, at first. But then Iago’s magic had seared off a patch of her hair in Macarath and she’d cut it short, and she’d told herself she had grown more practical after that.

But now, the thought of giving up that dream made her chest ache all over again.

After Corrin excused herself from the table, Sakura followed her. Her footsteps rang out behind Corrin, full of determination, and Corrin brushed away any hope of escaping this discussion. Sakura might have been the shyest of her siblings, but her determination was a formidable thing. With her yumi or her healing staff or her words, her aim held true when it counted.

Corrin stopped at the end of the corridor and turned around. “Is something wrong?”

“I-I was going to ask you that.” Sakura swallowed hard and raised her shoulders. “I know you’re worried. You’re scared about… the letter that you asked Big Brother to send to Windmire.”

“N… Yes, I’ll admit that I’m a little nervous.” Corrin smiled disarmingly. “But—but everyone gets nervous about getting married. Remember Takumi on his wedding day? Or Hinoka on hers? And, oh gods, don’t even get me started on Ryoma….”

Sakura didn’t laugh. “If you want to change your mind, please… don’t keep it to yourself. If you don’t want to follow through…” She inhaled deeply, her breath quivering. Her eyes blazed. “Th-then let me volunteer in your place!”

Corrin’s heart sank. _These past three years, everyone has always tried to protect me…. Even my baby sister._

Something solidified inside her ribs, warm and bright. She had been looking at this marriage alliance the wrong way—she _was_ marrying for love. She was seeking this out because she loved her family and her homeland, both her homelands, and she didn’t want them to be touched again by battle. She didn’t want to be protected any longer. She wanted to protect.

“No,” she said. “I asked Ryoma to make the offer, and I’m going through with it myself.”

“But…” Sakura started.

“Sakura,” Corrin said firmly, “I said no. For once in your life, just be selfish, won’t you?”

“Y-you’re one to talk!”

Corrin’s eyes prickled. “I’m the one who sparked this war. It’s not selflessness… to want to make sure that it’s over for good.”

Sakura opened her mouth to protest again, her eyes sparkling with tears, and Corrin planted her hands on her little sister’s shoulders. She met her eyes solidly, forcing her own tears back.

“You’re my precious little sister, Sakura, and I love you so much. So… I want it to be your choice when and if you get married—just like it was Ryoma’s choice, and Hinoka’s, and Takumi’s. Besides…” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “You already have Hana.”

Sakura’s face flushed a shade so intense, it rivaled her hair. “I-I—I don’t know what you’re t-talking about. We aren’t…!”

Corrin smiled. “Maybe not yet. But I want the option to stay open for you. Will you indulge me on this, please? You’re always taking care of me and others. Let me look out for you, too.”

Sakura faltered. “I… All right.”

“Thank you.” Corrin lifted her hands from her sister’s shoulders and turned to leave.

“W-wait!”

She turned back around. “Sakura?”

Sakura’s hands were balled tight at her sides. With her cheeks still pink, she declared, “Tell King Leo… T-tell him that he’d better treat my big sister very well! Or… Or else I’ll… I’ll not knit him any holiday scarves like I do for everyone else’s spouses!”

Corrin tried but couldn’t bite back a giggle. _Even if I live a thousand years, I doubt I’ll ever witness anything quite as cute as that._

“Wh-what?” Sakura asked sheepishly.

She smiled. “Nothing. I’ll make sure to pass your message along.”

* * *

In the golden light of dawn, Corrin said goodbye to her younger siblings before her entourage started off for Cyrkensia, the prearranged meeting place. Ryoma and Hinoka were coming along with her, and their retainers and Corrin’s too.

Jakob and Kaze were both wide awake already, something that Corrin could never understand. Jakob was fussing over her luggage, ensuring that he hadn’t overlooked anything in his previous triple-checking, and Kaze was bidding farewell to his child, as the boy clutched Felicia’s hand.

“Now, Shigure,” he said, crouching down in front of the three-year-old so their faces were level, “promise me that you’ll be good while I’m away, all right?”

Shigure frowned. “I wanna come too.”

“I know,” said Kaze, “and I’ll miss you, but you’re going to have a lot of fun here, and I’ll be back before you know it.”

“And you’re going to have a lot of fun with Aunt Felicia,” said Felicia with a grin, “and Uncle Takumi too!” Beside her, Takumi looked a little pale, and Corrin found herself wishing that she could stick around to watch her younger brother’s first venture into childcare.

Shigure hesitated. “Okay,” he mumbled before kissing his father’s cheek.

Corrin averted her eyes from their goodbye. She adored little Shigure, but he looked so much like Azura that it hurt. She traced a hand through her hair, now grown out past her shoulders again, and reminded herself why she was doing this. For her family. For everyone that she loved. For the country that Azura had sacrificed her life to save.

* * *

On the final day of their travels, Kaze slowed his horse to fall behind the others and signaled Corrin to do the same.

“You’re looking pale, milady.”

Corrin lifted a hand to her cheek, checking if her skin was cold. “Sorry,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I feel fine—we’ve just been riding a lot the past few days.”

Kaze’s eyes narrowed. “Lady Kamui…”

She glanced up ahead at the others. There was enough distance between them now that her words wouldn’t carry. She let herself slump in the saddle, her false smile crumbling. “I’m sorry. I’m not sick. It’s just… We’re nearing Cyrkensia now, and…”

“And it’s sinking in again?” he asked.

Corrin nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a bit nervous.”

She wanted her reunion with Leo and Camilla to feel just like old times. When they would come to visit her in Castle Krakenburg, and they immediately picked up right where they’d left off last time. Except… it couldn’t be that way. And she couldn’t blame anyone but herself for that.

Kaze’s eyes followed the rest of the group, slowly gaining ground on them. “You know it isn’t too late to back out. You haven’t formally agreed to anything yet.”

“You sound just like Sakura.” She sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs with crisp air. It soothed the nerves prickling under her skin. “But I want to go through with this. My hand in marriage is such a small price to pay… as opposed to another war.”

“Those aren’t the only options, Lady Kamui.”

“I know, but… Ryoma and Takumi and I discussed this at length. There are a lot of solutions to conflict, but most of them fall apart so easily. This, though… A marriage between the king of Nohr and a princess of Hoshido would be symbolic of a greater union between our countries. People might have thought that our talk of international friendship before was just talk, but… this is a tangible thing. The people will see it, and maybe they’ll finally understand.”

Kaze’s frown didn’t fade. There were furrows between his brows that Corrin was starting to suspect were permanent—aftereffects of the war and his wife’s sudden death. They made him look several years older than he was. “You shouldn’t have to pay anything more for peace than you already have.”

Their horses plodded along in silence, as his words bore down on her. Corrin pressed her lips together to keep her words back. _Sacrificing other people’s lives isn’t a real sacrifice. It isn’t selfless. Elise was selfless. Azura was selfless. I’m just…_

A loud _crack_ sounded behind them. Corrin’s horse spooked, nearly throwing her off. With a start, she realized that the rest of the group had advanced out of her sightline while she was lost in thought.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know, milady.” As his horse drew to a stop, Kaze’s hand drifted toward his shuriken.

A horde of Faceless exploded into view.

Corrin pinched herself in the arm, certain that she was hallucinating, but Kaze gasped and leaped off his horse. A reek like bile and sulfur filled her lungs. She stumbled to the ground, fumbling for the sword at her hip before realizing she was unarmed, her blade packed away in the convoy ahead. Not to mention the fact that her gown wasn’t suited to combat.

“Damn it.”

Kaze angled himself between her body and the oncoming Faceless. “Remain calm, and stay behind me.”

As he lashed out at the closest monster, Corrin’s pulse thundered in her throat. _What are Faceless doing here? So close to Cyrkensia, today… Surely there’s no way…?_

A Faceless sprang at Kaze, and he staggered back with a sharp cry. Corrin’s feet propelled her forward before she even told them to move. Her blood boiled. Her hand was slipping into her pocket—instinctively grasping for a stone that she hadn’t utilized in three years. The stone that Azura had attuned to her soul.

After so much time, the transformation was shocking. Like a sudden transition from walking to swimming in the center of an ocean. She _knew_ how swimming worked—she just hadn’t done it in so long, it was jarring. The scales formed over Corrin’s skin like armor. Her body elongated. She grew fangs, horns, claws. The world swam with colors that she didn’t have names for.

Her dragon form plowed into the Faceless that had attacked her retainer. Without hesitation, she advanced on a second one, a third. Maybe Corrin’s memory was spotty, but her body remembered fighting the way it remembered breathing. She pulled in a deep breath and released a roar that shook the remaining Faceless as she lunged into their midst.

Between her Dragonstone and Kaze’s shuriken, they made short work of the rest. Corrin let her transformation fall, and she sunk to her knees, her lungs heaving.  
“Lady Kamui,” Kaze gasped, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Barely a scratch. It’s just that… I’m so out of practice.” She exhaled a laugh. “I guess… I should’ve taken Ryoma up on his offers to train with me, huh?”

Kaze extended a hand and lifted her back to her feet. As they started to get back on their horses, the sound of hoofbeats caused both princess and retainer to tense. Corrin’s jittering fingers reached for her Dragonstone again.

But the hoofbeats belonged only to the rest of their party. “Kamui! You’re all right!” Hinoka exclaimed. “We doubled back as soon as we realized you weren’t with us. What happened?”

Corrin shared a glance with Kaze. “You’re not going to believe this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! You guys are the best, and I seriously mean that. Writing for this fandom/pairing is such a rewarding experience, and I genuinely mean it when I tell you guys that your comments make me smile so much that my face hurts. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to get back to you ASAP. Unless I'm asleep, at which point I'll get my rest and _then_ do my best.
> 
> For those of you who follow my Twitter, you already know this, but for everybody else: I just got a new job! Unfortunately, while that does mean great things for my bank account and ability to move out soonish, it also means I won't be able to update this fic with the same frequency as I used to update _Petals and Pomegranates_. This fic is also going to be a fair bit longer, though, and later chapters will get longer too, so hopefully that'll make up for it in the end! And I appreciate you guys bearing with me on this. I'll do my best to update regularly. (That's what my current buffer of chapters is for.)
> 
> Next time, we finally get to the moment you've all been waiting for (and the moment I've waited for too). These two crazy kids get to meet again! Except... they aren't kids anymore obviously, and are they even the same people they were back then? Next chapter preview: _"Have you come to a decision, sister? King Leo?”_


	4. Familiar and Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“How did we get here_   
>  _When I used to know you so well?”_
> 
> —“Decode,” Paramore

He hadn’t spoken to her face-to-face in years. Hadn’t spoken to her one-on-one since the Woods of the Forlorn—and even then, there had been an audience. The last time that Leo had truly spoken to Corrin alone… It must have been back when she still lived in that isolated fortress. Before everything around them had warped into a dark parody of the life they should have had.

He didn’t know how to relate to her anymore, and that lack of knowing weighed on him as he and the others swept into Cyrkensia.

The last time he had seen Corrin in person was during King Ryoma’s coronation ceremony in Hoshido, three years ago. Corrin had said that she would attend Leo’s upcoming coronation in Nohr, but when the time came, she allegedly fell ill, and her Hoshidan family had attended without her.

After King Ryoma’s coronation, both Leo and Camilla had worn brave faces in front of Corrin and the others. They had tried to pretend that everything could go back to the way that it used to be between them—and maybe Camilla, at least, had actually believed it then. Camilla had seen too much heartache to be a true optimist like Elise, but Corrin had always been her blind spot in that regard.

But then, when they returned home to Nohr, it was to a too-empty castle. The walls of Krakenburg still rang with the sounds of battle and blood, even after the halls had gone silent. The door to Xander’s chambers was closed, and Leo realized his brother would never open it for him again. Behind Elise’s door, he heard her retainers sobbing. _“Sh-she asked us to have tea with her here, when it was all over, Arthur. And her face when she told me she loved me… Did she already know?”_

Camilla had shut herself inside her rooms for days on end again. Leo had wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t have the words. He wasn’t sure that the right words existed, that there were sutures that could close the cavernous depths of her sorrow.

And he was busy taking over their father’s position as king. Growing up, he had believed along with everyone else that the crown would ultimately fall to Xander. Their oldest sibling had studied and prepared for it for most of his life. Leo had studied politics too—they had all been tutored in it in Castle Krakenburg—but he had never truly dared to entertain the possibility of being king. But now, he had to settle his brother’s crown in his hair and pretend that he’d been prepared for this all along. He owed it to the war-torn people.

Over the next three years, he was plagued by the idea that Xander would have handled this better. Even in death, Xander’s shadow still loomed over him. Leo still felt that familiar tug-of-war between affection and resentment in his chest, like creeping vines slowly prying his ribs apart.

Now, he surveyed the streets of Cyrkensia, searching for any sign of the Hoshidan party. Behind him, some of his companions took in the dazzling lights and gasped. A few of the youngest hadn’t traveled here before. Leo tried to remember what it had been like, seeing it for the first time, but he had been too young. A few of the oldest knights looked unimpressed too—Lord Nikos and his fellows. To be fair, Leo wasn’t sure he had ever seen that old dark knight look impressed about anything, except his own wartime records.

Camilla stood nearby, her eye bright again. Beruka and Peri flanked her. At his right hand, Niles stood still except for his restless gaze, and Leo’s left side still felt barren after all this time. Odin had left the royal family’s service after the war in an oddly unceremonious fashion—and Selena and Laslow had departed too, too—and neither Leo nor Niles had the heart to replace him.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see her,” Camilla said. “She must have grown so much since last time I saw her!”

“She was already an adult last time,” Leo reminded her. “I doubt she’s grown at all.”

Niles arched an eyebrow. “One can hope though, milord.”

Leo glared. A few paces away, Silas did the same. The Nohrian knight had eagerly volunteered to escort them to Cyrkensia. Leo knew Silas missed his best friend, as they hadn’t had many chances to meet since the war either.

Camilla set her hands on her hips. “Niles, I suggest you speak kindly of my precious Corrin. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what, my dear?” Niles flashed her a smirk. Leo groaned and looked away.

“There they are!”

Leo’s head shot up. In the distance, a group of familiar figures wound their way through the streets of Cyrkensia. His eyes settled on King Ryoma first, tall and commanding. Next, he spotted Princess Hinoka—General Hinoka now (which one was Leo supposed to use to refer to her?)—as her pegasus trotted alongside the others’ horses. At last, he glimpsed Corrin—Princess Kamui—murmuring to her retainers at the rear of the group.

“Corrin!” Camilla cried. She bolted forward, her arms stretched out, with no thought to her fancy gown or court propriety.

King Ryoma stepped forward, lifting a hand. “Wait.”

Camilla slowed. “I… I beg your pardon?” Leo stepped forward to her side, along with their retainers. What was going on? Were they not allowed to greet Corrin? He didn’t remember reading about any customs like that.

Ryoma’s eyes narrowed. “My sister and her retainer were assaulted by Faceless earlier today. Do you know anything of this?”

Leo’s eyes darted to Corrin. Her gaze was fixed on her older brother. Leo didn’t see more than a couple of superficial scratches on her skin, but her retainer Kaze had a wide spot of blood on his torn sleeve.

Leo turned back to his traveling companions, seeking out one of the servants who was proficient in healing arts, a casual friend of Elise’s from back in the day. “Aleta, can you tend to their wounds?”

Aleta nodded. “Right away, Your Majesty!”

Ryoma stepped aside to allow the young maid access to Corrin and Kaze, though he continued to watch her warily. Silas stepped up beside Leo and Camilla, bowing his head to the Hoshidan king.

“I give you my word—I know nothing of these events,” he said solemnly. “Neither does King Leo.”

Leo nodded. “Would you mind telling us what happened, Co—Princess Kamui?”

Corrin stiffened, meeting his eyes for only a second before looking back to Aleta, whose stave glowed as she mended the cuts on her arms. “I was careless. I didn’t realize that we had fallen so far behind the others. The Faceless came out of nowhere. I heard a twig crack under one of their feet, and then they were upon us. We fought them off, but we didn’t see any sign of who might have summoned them.”

“Is that all you remember?” asked Leo.

“That’s all.” She pursed her lips.

The maid Aleta turned her focus on Kaze. “And… your wounds?”

Kaze shook his head. He brushed aside the tear in his sleeve, revealing that the skin beneath it was intact. “Lady Kamui already healed my injury. But thank you for your offer. It’s very kind.”

Aleta reddened and looked away.

Camilla fixed King Ryoma with a placid smile. “There. May I greet my sister now?”

Before Ryoma had finished nodding, Corrin stepped around him. Her silvery-blond hair had grown out since they had last met, though Leo couldn’t quite judge its length because she wore it pinned up behind her head in a formal Hoshidan style. Her complexion had darkened from her time in Hoshido—from her time spent outside the fortress in general. She wore an ivory kimono that complimented her tan, with subtle red accents that drew out the color of her eyes. The hem had been muddied a bit, presumably during the fight with the unexplained Faceless, but as she leaned into Camilla’s tight embrace, Corrin looked more nervous than frightened.

Leo swallowed a chuckle. At least he wasn’t alone in feeling awkward.

After Camilla finally let go, Corrin bit her lip and turned toward Leo. “L—um, _King_ Leo, sorry.”

“There’s no need for the formalities, darling,” said Camilla, patting her shoulder. “We’re among friends here. And it’s only Leo, after all.”

Leo bristled. He fought the sudden urge to ensure that the collar of his formal cloak wasn’t inside-out. He knew it wasn’t, because he had checked it half a dozen times before she arrived.

A smile touched Corrin’s lips. “You’re right. It’s good to see you again.”

“I’ll leave you two to catch up.” Camilla chuckled and turned her attention to Ryoma and Hinoka. As she struck up a conversation, Leo returned his focus to Corrin.

“Whose idea was this, anyway?” he asked.

“My brothers and I were talking about politics, and it kind of came up naturally,” she said. “I think it would set a good example for our people.”

“Whose people?”

“Both.” Corrin frowned. A familiar, youthful expression, almost a pout. “You sound like you really hate the idea.”

Leo tried to hide his tension by folding his hands behind his back. “No, you’re right. It would be good for our relations.”

He heard a familiar snicker behind him.

“ _International_ relations!” He glared at Niles over his shoulder. “P-political relations. Stop that.”

“Of course, Lord Leo.” Niles grinned. “Lady Corrin, a pleasure to see you again.”

Corrin nodded, though her cheeks were a little flushed from Niles’s implications. “Oh. Niles, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right. I hear you’re going to be milord’s lady, so consider me at your service.”

“I, um… thank you?”

“Niles,” said Leo, “there has been no official decision yet.”

Niles raised his eyebrows. “But you’ve already decided, haven’t you?”

He averted his gaze. “It’s possible.”

Clearly, Corrin latched onto something in his tone that he hadn’t intended to reveal, because the next thing he knew—she plowed into him, flinging her arms around him. At least her hug pinned Leo’s arms to his sides so he didn’t have to decide whether it was wise to hug her back. She was warm.

“Leo, I’m glad!” she exclaimed, and he tensed. She laughed. “I mean, I know this is going to be good for the people. For the peace.”

Leo smiled stiffly. “You never do anything by halves, do you?”

Corrin stepped back, breaking the hug. “Wh-what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” he said.

“Come on,” she said, “it isn’t like you to hold back.”

“Isn’t it, though?” He remembered the dark forest. His stupid heart’s weakness. The ceilings of the king’s chambers, full of unanswered questions.

Corrin’s eyes clouded. She sensed his meaning too. Leo felt a sick satisfaction settle into his gut as her face fell, and he hated himself for feeling it.

The sound of a throat clearing diverted their attention. King Ryoma stood at a short distance, rigid in his formal wear. “So, er… have you come to a decision, sister? King Leo?”

Corrin cleared her throat. “King Leo and I, um, we’ve… yes…”

Leo had the urge to glance over at her, but he also really didn’t want to. His face was overly warm—everyone must have seen her hug him and drawn who knew how many false conclusions—and he pretended that, if he didn’t look at Corrin, she wouldn’t notice his embarrassment.

“I believe we have,” he said instead to Ryoma. “If it’s still all right with you, I would like to take Princess Kamui’s hand in marriage.”

Ryoma inclined his head. “I give my consent.”

“I appreciate it, King Ryoma.” In a way, Leo was relieved to be mired in the formal talk of the nobility. It was familiar. It wasn’t like talking with Corrin, where neither of them were certain where they stood anymore. “Although… if this marriage is going to occur, Princess Kamui will have to renounce her Hoshidan title, for obvious reasons.”

“Of course,” said Ryoma. Corrin’s head whipped around toward him, and Leo realized that, with all her talk of peace, she hadn’t actually considered all the implications of a wedding yet. _Geez..._ She had always been impulsive.

Camilla smiled. “I’m looking forward to this. Would your family like to dine with us and discuss it further?”

Hinoka frowned. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. No offense—it’s just that, after that Faceless attack…”

“We’d best return to Hoshido,” King Ryoma finished. “I’d like to ensure the safety of my people.”

Leo nodded. The ambush was still troubling him, as well. He wanted to offer aid, except—his gaze scanned his companions, lingering the longest on the cold dark eyes of Lord Nikos, and Leo understood why Ryoma might hesitate to accept unfamiliar company right now. In his place, he’d be wary of relative strangers too. “Silas, you’re familiar with the royal family,” he said. “Would you mind returning with them to Hoshido, in case of another Faceless attack?”

“It would be my honor,” said Silas.

“I’d also like you to protect the princess, in case there’s any backlash when the engagement is announced.” _Engagement._ The thought felt so foreign on Leo’s tongue. His mind was loath to process it.

Silas glanced past his king and grinned at Corrin. Leo imagined she smiled back. The two had been close friends and allies during the war, so Ryoma would certainly accept the knight’s company. Leo had made the right call here.

“Then,” he said, “I bid you farewell. I hope you have a safe journey back to Hoshido.”

After they were gone, Camilla turned to her brother and crossed her arms. “Could you have been any stiffer to her, Leo?”

“Probably,” said Niles.

Leo wasn’t sure if the innuendo was intentional or if he was just overly conscious of these things now that he’d agreed to the engagement. Either way, he scoffed for good measure. “I wasn’t being stiff. I was being formal,” he said. “This _is_ a political arrangement, after all. I’m just following decorum.”

“Your caution was warranted, Your Majesty,” the dark knight Lord Nikos put in.

“She’s our Corrin!” said Camilla.

Leo thought of Corrin’s intricate Hoshidan gown, her hair tied back in a traditional style. The way she’d pulled back after hugging him and referred to him with a title, never mind that she’d never been one for formalities back in Nohr. Back when she’d called him no title but “little brother.”

_Is she, though?_ After all this time, he couldn’t believe that she could be the same Corrin at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by... those idiotic teenage boys who decided to draw a dick on my car window in soap this afternoon. (No, seriously, I wasn't gonna post this until tomorrow, but I got home and I was pissed and I needed to put that energy to use, so I finished my edits on this chapter. At least those jerks were good for something. This chapter was also sponsored by my lovely fiance for washing the aforementioned artistry off my window. He's a good one. I think I'll keep him~)
> 
> Anyway, writing this chapter made me feel a weird mixture of happy and sad. Happy because I'd been wanting to write the reunion from the moment I conceived of this idea, but sad because... well. You read the chapter. Can anybody say "awkward?" (Niles will say it, probably.)
> 
> Also, if anybody's trying to flash back to minor characters from FE: Fates, Lord Nikos and Aleta aren't actually from the game canon; they're IPRA-original. In Aleta's case, I realized I'd written myself into a hella corner by pairing Felicia with Takumi, hence making her stay behind in Hoshido, and sometimes you just need a cute maid--aka, always. (That and she was Elise's friend sorta--narrative purposes and all that.) As for Lord Nikos... eh, he's Nikos. He exists apparently.
> 
> Next chapter preview: _“It’s nice that you’re trying to be realistic about this, but does it really hurt to dream?”_


	5. A Dream Cut Short

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _“I wasn’t dreaming when they told me you were gone._  
>  _I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong._  
>  _Why did you leave me when you swore that you would stay?_  
>  …  
>  _This little fairytale doesn’t seem to end well._  
>  _There’s no knight in shining armor who will wake me from this spell.”_
> 
> —"Red Like Roses Pt. II,” Casey Lee Williams

Ryoma’s announcement of his middle sister’s engagement was met with mixed reception. At first, Corrin was afraid of the potential backlash—Leo had sent Silas along with her for that very reason, after all—but the discord died down soon enough, as the people realized that it would be beneficial to have a Hoshidan queen on the Nohrian throne.

( _Queen._ The word didn’t fit right against her skin. It was like she was a child again, trying on one of Camilla’s dresses, and it hung off her limbs and made her feel too gawky and small.)

Still… she was concerned about how the Nohrian people might look at this. She remembered the cold looks that Scarlet had gotten in Hoshido when Ryoma first announced their engagement, before the people realized that Scarlet had fought for the rebellion. But Scarlet was so bright and charismatic and beautiful—of course she had won them over quickly. And the fact that she was soon carrying baby Shiro, the king’s heir, didn’t hurt matters.

But _no_. Corrin was absolutely not going to think about babies in this context.

Ryoma approached her one evening with the news that he and Leo had settled on a date and location for the wedding. _“Wedding”_ was another word that startled her, to the point where she barely heard Ryoma’s next words. “We’re thinking of holding it in Cheve, a month from tomorrow—if that pleases you.”

“What? Oh. I…” She pressed her lips together and nodded. “That sounds fine. Did… Did Leo mention how the people of Nohr took the news?”

“Some of the Nohrians weren’t thrilled at first, as you’d imagine,” said Ryoma. “But they’ll cope, and perhaps it will serve as an example to everyone, as you hope.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Kamui. Maybe you’ll bring light to their kingdom, as you’ve brought to ours.”

Corrin flinched. Xander had said something like that once, too. And yet she’d caused the light to leave his eyes for good….

She swallowed hard, searching for a change in subject. “Oh, Ryoma? Um… Why is it that you and Leo are wanting me to renounce my title? You both agreed on it, but I still don’t understand.”

Ryoma paused. “It’s to ensure that… if something were to happen to me, and to Takumi and Hinoka… that Nohr couldn’t use your Hoshidan title to take our throne.”

“Leo would never do that!” she protested.

“I believe you,” he said gently. “It’s only a precaution. A formality, if you will. And no matter what title you hold, you will always be our sister.”

Corrin nodded—but the thought clung to her mind like a thorn. _He wouldn’t do that… right?_ He’d been cold to her in Cyrkensia, like they were strangers. He’d refused to meet her eyes when they struck the agreement. Maybe they _were_ strangers again, though it pained her to entertain the idea. She’d barely seen Leo or Camilla since the war ended.

And war did things to the people that survived it. It shattered them, and they couldn’t be painted back together with gold like pottery. The war had turned Corrin’s desire for peace into—as much as she loathed to admit it—a burning need for vengeance against King Garon. Who was to say what it might turn her practical Nohrian brother into?

* * *

Oboro finished lacing Corrin into her gown after the final fitting and stepped back to appraise her handiwork. She nodded to herself. “All right, can you turn around for me, Lady Kamui? Tell me if anything doesn’t feel right.”

Corrin spun slowly in a circle, the hem of her gown blossoming around her ankles. She’d seen Oboro create some incredible outfits in the past, but this was definitely one of the best. She had taken the basics of the traditional Hoshidan wedding kimono—the… _shiromuku_? Corrin thought that was what she’d called it—and blended them seamlessly with elements borrowed from modern wedding fashion. The result was something that was both and yet neither. White and flowing and elegant.

Corrin stopped twirling, feeling a bit light-headed. “It’s perfect, Oboro. I mean it.”

A smile graced Oboro’s face. “Thank you.”

“Ha!” The door flew open, and Orochi glided into Oboro’s workroom. “I predicted that you’d be finishing up here!” 

“Hey! Can’t you at least knock first?” Oboro protested.

Orochi paused mid-step and caught her breath as she surveyed Corrin’s gown. “I knew it would look nice, but this is a realm beyond ‘nice.’”

Oboro flushed with pride. “Well, I did work really hard on it.”

An impish grin sprouted on the diviner’s face. “And it shows. Lady Kamui, this dress will absolutely blow your new husband’s mind!”

“I… I don’t even want to blow his mind,” Corrin started. “Not to say it isn’t a fantastic dress—”

“Oh?” Orochi’s grin only grew wider, more feline. “What _do_ you want to blow, then?”

Heat ambushed Corrin’s cheeks. A flustered shriek broke past her defenses. “Nothing! Gods, Orochi, that’s—that’s unfair!”

“Why?” she asked. “I know how you were raised, but… you two _are_ getting married—hence the wedding gown. And you’re marrying a king. You do realize he’ll be expected to have an heir at some point, right?”

There it was, the other thing that Corrin was doing her damnedest to forget. The fire didn’t abate from her cheeks. “I-I’ll deal with that when I have to. But first comes marriage.”

“Actually,” said Orochi, “the song says ‘first comes _love_.’”

Corrin stilled. _Not a chance._ She had killed Xander, and she was responsible for Elise’s death too. If Corrin was unable to forget, there was no way that Leo could, either. And even if she cared about Leo and acknowledged that he hadn’t done anything wrong—he hadn’t caused the deaths of Azura or Lilith or anyone else she’d loved—he was inextricably tied to those memories. Too inextricably for them to ever fall in love with each other.

She could feel Oboro and Orochi’s gazes on her and she tried to summon a smile to reassure them that she was fine. “I highly doubt that part is ever going to happen.”

Oboro nodded in agreement, but Orochi sighed. “It’s nice that you’re trying to be realistic about this, but does it really hurt to dream?”

That was the thing, though. It did. Corrin remembered her hair growing long in her tower. How she had met Azura just outside this castle, how the songstress’s hair was even longer than hers and the color of the beautiful Hoshidan sky. Just before they reached Macarath, she and Kaze had been married in a quick, informal ceremony, and Corrin had never seen her friend smile so much. It was almost painful, how brilliant it was.

_“Can I see you smile for me… one last time?”_

She remembered tears streaking down Azura’s cheeks as she crumbled. Kaze’s numb silence for months afterward, and the infant Shigure’s wails. Of course dreaming hurt. Or if not dreaming, the waking that had to follow after. Waking hurt so much that her chest still ached with it, even now.

* * *

Weeks passed, and Kaze watched as his liege fought to hide her growing anxiety. Sleepless shadows lurked beneath Kamui’s eyes, but when he’d tried to broach the subject with her, she had downplayed it.

“I appreciate it, Kaze… but I’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to this, really. I’m looking forward to this,” she repeated in a hard whisper, like she was trying to persuade herself. “I haven’t been to Windmire… in a very long time, and… it will be hard to be away from my siblings, but I’ll be okay.”

Kaze gave her a reassuring smile. “You’ll have King Leo and Lady Camilla. And Jakob and I will be coming with you, too—and Shigure, of course.”

She had returned his smile, but only faintly. “You’re too kind.”

Now, the royal family and their retainers were making the final preparations for their departure tomorrow morning. After helping to pack, Kaze slipped away from the stables to tuck his son into bed for the night. Tomorrow’s ride would be long, and he didn’t want Shigure to be too tired to appreciate the beauty that Hoshido had to offer.

As he traversed the corridors toward Shigure’s room, Kaze passed Lord Ryoma. “Kaze,” he called, “do you know where Kamui is?” Ryoma raised his hand, revealing a slender envelope. “I’ve been meaning to give this to her. I was asked to give it to her upon her engagement.”

“I think she was on her way back to her chambers,” Kaze reported.

“Thank you,” said Ryoma and went on his way.

As Kaze approached Shigure’s room, he heard the sound of laughter trickling out of his son’s open door. Two sets of laughter: Shigure’s melodious giggles, and a deeper counterpoint. Kaze peered into the room to find Shigure was piloting a tiny pegasus figurine through the air, while the figurine’s twin galloped in the calloused hands of Sir Silas.

The knight beamed as he looked up at the door. “Kaze! Come to join us?”

Kaze was an expert on keeping calm, but the sight of his wartime friend playing alongside his son was too much to bear. As his gaze swept from Shigure’s look of childish glee to Silas’s look of… equally childish glee, a laugh burst out of his throat.

“I actually came to tuck Shigure into bed,” he started.

“Awww…” Shigure stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “But the sky knights were about to catch the bad people!”

Kaze leaned down and ruffled his son’s hair. “Even the bravest sky knights have to get their rest.” His son didn’t budge.

“That’s right,” Silas chipped in. “They’re embarking on an important quest tomorrow, and they can’t do their best if they don’t get enough sleep.”

Shigure hesitated. “Well… okay, I guess. But we’ve got to play again tomorrow!”

“Understood,” said Silas.

He was still smiling five minutes later, as Kaze stepped out into the hallway and slid the door closed after tucking Shigure into bed. Outside, the sky was darkening, making Silas’s eyes look a deeper green than usual.

“Your son is really sweet, Kaze,” he said softly. “He’s a great kid.”

Kaze’s chest flushed with warmth. Truly, he was so grateful for the way his friends had embraced Shigure after Azura’s death. Even if Shigure would never remember his mother, Kaze had never doubted that his son would grow up surrounded by love.

“He doesn’t get it from me,” he started.

Silas scoffed. “Nonsense. You are too, you know. I mean—not a great _kid_ , but—you know what I mean.” He paused. “Hey, have you… talked to Corrin today?”

Kaze nodded in recognition of Kamui’s Nohrian name. After she’d returned to Hoshido, he had asked her which name she preferred, but she said that she had no objections to either. Most people in Hoshido referred to her by her birth name, of course, but she answered pleasantly to both.

“This afternoon, we spoke briefly,” he said. “Why?”

“I’m worried about her,” said Silas. “Do you think she’s really all right?”

Kaze hesitated. As Lady Kamui’s retainer, he was cautious of discussing her personal concerns with others. But Silas was their good friend, and Kaze thought that he deserved to know, or he would only worry all night about it. And knights couldn’t do their best without rest, after all.

“She tries to conceal it, but of course she’s nervous about all of this,” he said. “She hasn’t been in Windmire in three years, and the last time… was deeply upsetting for her.”

“Traumatic, you mean,” said Silas.

“You’re right.” Kaze wondered at how he spoke of trauma so unabashedly. Maybe it was a Nohrian thing, because even in the privacy of Castle Shirasagi, the nightmares that plagued Lady Kamui and Lord Takumi were only spoken of in reluctant whispers. Almost like it was something they should be ashamed of—even if Kaze thought they were two of the strongest people he’d ever met.

“Is there anything that I can do to help?” Silas asked.

“Just keep being her friend,” said Kaze. “As much as I hate it, it’s going to be hard on her no matter what. So we’ll support her as much as we can.”

He nodded. “I can do that.”

When Kaze returned to Kamui’s chambers after bidding goodnight to Silas, he was greeted by the sound of sobbing. Kaze rushed to his liege’s side. Tears seeped down her blotched cheeks as she clutched a slip of paper to her chest.

“Milady, what’s wrong?”

Kamui shook her head, smiling weakly. It took her a minute to collect herself enough to speak. “My mother… Sh-she wrote me a letter.”

“What?”

“She… Apparently, she had a prophecy about me, before I even came back. About…” She sniffled.

“About your marriage?” Kaze asked.

She nodded again. She thrust the letter against his chest.

“Milady, are you sure? It’s private….”

She shot him a look—a stubborn pout that Kaze had grown quite familiar with by now—and he yielded and read Queen Mikoto’s letter.

It was brief and simple and, he thought, deliberately vague in some places. _“My sweet child,”_ the late queen wrote, _“I know that this time is difficult for you, and I regret so deeply that I cannot hold your hand through it, but know that I am proud beyond words of your dedication to peace….”_

Another sniffle jarred Kaze from the letter. More tears streaked down Kamui’s face, even as she uttered a wavery laugh. “She speaks of the uncertain future… a-as if she doesn’t already know it. I wish she could just give me a nice list of what’s going to happen.”

Kaze skipped down to the passage that she was referencing. _“I know that the future seems so vast and uncertain right now,”_ Queen Mikoto wrote, _“but don’t be afraid, and keep your heart open. There is so much about you that is worthy of love. You will make a radiant queen, my sweet daughter.”_

As Kaze let the letter fall into his lap, he fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Kamui. Her sobs were inelegant as she wept into the fabric, and Kaze’s heart reached out toward her. She was his liege, but in a way, he’d come to think of her as an extension of his family, even if he could never admit it aloud. _We’ll support her,_ he reminded himself. _As much as we can._

Kamui dried the last of her tears and frowned down at the handkerchief. “I—I’m sorry,” she began. “I completely soaked it.”

“It’s all right,” said Kaze. “That’s what handkerchiefs are for.”

She smiled, and this time, it touched her eyes. “Sorry,” she said again. For a princess, soon to be queen, she had the worst habit of over-apologizing—probably gained in that lonely Northern Fortress. “It’s just, this letter… Everything struck me at once.”

“That’s all right, too,” he said. “Feelings do that sometimes.”

Kamui snorted and rolled her eyes. “And you wonder why women are always fawning over you.”

“I do,” he said, bewildered. “It’s never quite made sense to me.”

A hysterical laugh exploded from her mouth. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

He kind of was—at least, he understood what she was suggesting about him, even if he couldn’t quite see it himself—but he tilted his head as if he was confused, and Kamui only laughed harder.

So Kaze kept her laughing until her eyelids started to droop with sleep. And then, he told her goodnight, in the same tone of voice as he’d said goodnight to Shigure. She was smiling still as he closed the door to her chambers, and the sight eased a tension in Kaze’s shoulders that he hadn’t even realized was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry for taking a little longer to update this time, but I'm still adjusting to my new job. I also took an extra shift yesterday because I'm trying to save up money for when I move out and get married soon! (I don't have a set date yet, haha~) So I was meaning to refine this chapter and post it yesterday, but then I was too exhausted after work. Thanks for understanding.
> 
> Also, please review if you're not too busy, because I love to know people's thoughts on the stuff I write! Especially with this chapter, since 1) introduction to a couple of side ships, and 2) Shigure, who I have no idea how to write in this fic because he's like three. My experience with kiddos is extremely limited; the only one I ever babysat was my brother, and I'm not sure he counts as a person. So yeah... let me know your thoughts if you want! Though I totally understand if you don't (I get way too nervous to review a lot of times; damn you, social anxiety), and either way, I appreciate you reading~
> 
> Next chapter is the wedding, and I'm super excited! Even if not everybody in the story itself is quite so enthusiastic. Chapter 6 preview: _"Everyone expects the groom to be nervous."_


	6. A Clouded Declaration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Breaking the dark of night,_   
>  _Piercing through the painted white._   
>  _Cut it all away from yesterday_   
>  _‘Til a new era’s in sight.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> — "True Light," English cover by Amalee 

The sun rose on the city of Cheve on the morning of Leo’s wedding, and the light was so blinding that it hurt his head.  Maybe he was just too accustomed to the dark.  To ease his headache, and possibly the nerves that he wouldn’t admit to having, he shadowed Camilla to the building where the Hoshidan royals were staying.

Damn it, he really wanted a chance to speak with Corrin privately before the ceremony.  He wasn’t sure how to relate to her anymore, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to talk to her.  He wanted to ask her whose idea it had been to omit the kiss from the end of the ceremony, because he was endlessly grateful for it.  He wanted to know how she was doing.

(He wanted to see if she was as ragged from nerves as he felt.  He wanted to know if she wished as hard as he did that Elise and Xander could have been here today, their smiles bolstering him as he donned his most formal attire.  His eyes prickled with tears, and he immediately erased them with his hand.  _Enough of those thoughts._ )

But as he started down the corridor toward the room that had been assigned to Corrin, he heard giggles carrying through the door.  “You’re going to look _so_ lovely, darling,” Camilla’s voice cooed.

“You will!” a couple of high, unfamiliar voices chorused.

Another woman added, “He won’t be able to take his eyes off you.  Or, for that matter—”

“That’s enough!” Corrin yelped from behind the door.  “I mean… thank you for the praise.  But could we talk about something else?  Like, um…”

Leo breathed in until his lungs were bursting, and then rapped his knuckles against the door.  The giggles stopped.

“Who is it?” Camilla called.

“It’s Leo.”

One muffled giggle started up again, before cutting off sharply.  “Stop!” Corrin’s voice protested.  At least Leo didn’t have to wonder if she was nervous anymore.  He imagined the giggler had just received a flustered elbow to her gut.

“Do you need something?” Camilla asked.

“I just wanted to talk to my fiancée, if that’s acceptable to you.”

Another voice he didn’t recognize piped up.  “Can you do it through the door, Your Majesty?”

“What?” he asked.  “Why?”

More giggling.  “It’s a bad omen to see your bride in her gown before the wedding!”

“What?” Leo said again.  “That doesn’t make sense.”

There was the sound of shuffling from behind the door, and then Corrin’s voice carried through.  She sounded closer now.  “Can we just talk later, Leo?”

“But…”  _But what?_ He couldn’t admit that his nerves were wreaking havoc on him.  It would be nigh-impossible to confess it to Corrin alone, much less in front of an unknown number of gigglers.  His voice came out petulant instead.  “Why can’t we talk now?”

“Because…” said Corrin.  “I-I’m changing clothes, so you can’t come in!”

_Oh._   Leo stumbled back from the door as if its touch had scalded him.  A little shiver trickled down his shoulders, his spine.  He’d never really had cause to think of her naked before.  He hadn’t.

All right—he’d had a bit of cause, thanks to Niles’s recent japes about the wedding, but he’d never actually entertained the image.  He was probably expected to now, judging by the renewed flood of giggles from behind the door.  (He wondered if her skin remained Nohrian-pale in the places where her clothing blocked out the sun’s ligh— _no_.)  He slammed a mental gate shut before that thought could sink its claws into him.

He didn’t _want_ to think of it.  She’d been his sister first.

“I, erm—I’m sorry,” he stammered, already turning tail like a coward.  “We can talk later after all.  So… I’ll see you at the wedding, I guess?”

Oh gods.  He wanted to sink into the earth.

After that, the glaring sunlight didn’t seem so horrible.  Mostly because it was slowly being consumed by clouds.  Since he lacked anything else to do, Leo lurked around the outdoor area where the ceremony was going to take place.  The area was lit by lovely Hoshidan lanterns.  Camilla had thought it made a nice touch.  Leo didn’t care what kind of touch it made, because he couldn’t actually focus on anything over the sound of his heartbeat storming in his ears.

Niles found him shortly.  Leo was half-convinced that, before he’d left, Odin had gifted Niles with a stone magically attuned to their liege’s location.  That, or Niles just knew him too well by now, which was just as likely.

“So, milord—I heard that you got chased away by Lady Corrin and her attendants.”

“If you’re going to make fun of me,” Leo snapped, “I’d rather be alone.”

Niles’s face softened.  “That wasn’t my intention.  Actually, I was just going to tell you there’s no need to be nervous.”

“I am not nervous.”  He stopped, glancing around to ensure that nobody else was in earshot.  “It isn’t that obvious, is it?”

“It is,” said Niles with a fond sigh.  “But everyone expects the groom to be nervous, so you’re in the clear.  If anything, they’ll find it endearing.”

He appreciated the sentiment, but that didn’t make him feel much better.  He knew that Niles had a kind heart and wouldn’t mock his vulnerability, but he had still been conditioned not to be vulnerable in front of others.  Leo opened his mouth: to ask what, he didn’t know—how Niles had kept his cool on his own wedding day, perhaps….  But then, that might drift too close to the unwanted subject of Niles and Camilla’s love life, and too many undesired implications about the process by which little Nina came to be.  Thankfully, Leo was interrupted as a familiar figure approached.

Prince Takumi regarded him with a neutral expression.  “Is it almost time already?”

“Maybe,” said Leo.  “If Camilla deigns to let her go.”

Beside him, Niles smiled.  “Highly unlikely.”

Takumi’s eyes narrowed.  They weren’t hostile, exactly, but they were wary.  “You’re going to treat my older sister well, aren’t you?”

Leo’s heart skipped.  “I intend to, yes,” he said stiffly.

“Good,” said Takumi.  “Anything else would practically be a declaration of war.”

(In another life… that could have been Leo’s line.)

After the Hoshidan prince departed, Leo unleashed the breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.  He turned to Niles.  “Tell me that I wasn’t like that to you when you announced your engagement to Camilla.”

“I’d love to tell you that, Lord Leo,” said Niles, a smirk creeping onto his face, “but you value me for my brutal honesty.”

* * *

An eternity passed—and yet surely it couldn’t have lasted longer than a couple of blinks—before Leo took his place at the dais.  Princess Sakura was presiding over the wedding, and she lent him an encouraging smile as he tensed his hands behind his back.

“Y-you’ll do fine,” she whispered.

He nodded in gratitude.

He nearly missed the musical cue that signaled Corrin’s approach.  When he glanced over, she was already sweeping toward him.  She had definitely changed from the sheltered girl he’d known in the Northern Fortress.  Her stride was determined and sure, and her posture was that of a queen.

_Not that she’s…_   Well.  He’d think about that later.

Corrin’s gown was brilliantly white—a more modern twist on the _shiromuku_ , clearly custom-made for her.  He made up his mind to ask her about it later, and promptly forgot as she assumed her place opposite him, before the dais.  The clouds had blocked out the sun completely now.  In the flickering light of the lanterns, and with the light but unfamiliar makeup she wore, it was difficult for Leo to read her face.

“You join hands now,” Sakura whispered.

Corrin startled.  She grasped for Leo’s hands, in a movement too rash to possibly be queenly.  Her fingers were warm around his—her blood had always run warmer than his—but he swore he could feel them shaking.  _So she_ is _still nervous._ He was relieved not to be alone.

Leo bowed his head politely as Sakura prayed over him and Corrin.  He’d studied traditional Hoshidan weddings extensively in the past month—due to the nerves that he wouldn’t admit to having—so he knew the essence of her words before she spoke them.  He knew what came next too, the exchanging of _sake_ cups, and it was probably good that he’d studied all of this, because otherwise his pulse would have been racing too intensely for him to follow his own wedding ceremony.  And that would’ve just been embarrassing.

Luckily, he knew the vows too.  He repeated them after Sakura, his voice sounding hollow, like an automaton even to his own ears.  His eyes kept scanning the crowd—seeking out Camilla and Niles as if they could rescue him (ugh, he felt so pathetic), or seeking out Takumi and his older siblings and remembering the prince’s threat, or seeking out the faces that he only wished were there.  He couldn’t look at Corrin.  His chest would burst, over past and future alike.

When he reached the part of the vows about undying love, his breath stuttered.  Corrin squeezed his hands—a gentle gesture he remembered from childhood—and finally, he met her eyes as he spoke the lingering piece of his vows.  She nodded determinedly.  Accepting the lie.

As Corrin’s turn arrived—a more modern addition to a ceremony where, traditionally, only the groom spoke vows—the clouds shattered.  Rain came pelting down on the couple, on the priestess and the witnesses.  The lanterns died beneath the downpour.  Corrin’s voice struggled to rise above the brewing storm.

“I promise… to take K-King Leo of Nohr as my husband….”

Her voice cracked as she continued.  As raindrops skidded down her cheeks, marring the powder on her face, Leo realized with a start that her eyes were bloodshot.  _Is she… crying?_   Silently, he squeezed Corrin’s hands and thanked the sky for its timing.

Corrin’s voice grew clearer, stronger as she completed the vows.  She didn’t even flinch as the lie left her lips.

As the rain beat down on their shoulders, Sakura led the couple in making an offering before the altar.  Then, they exchanged rings.  Leo slid a traditional Nohrian wedding ring onto Corrin’s slim hand, as she presented him with a band of intricate Hoshidan gold.

“I guess we were thinking the same thing,” he murmured.

A little smile broke across her face: the first ray of fragile sunlight through the storm.

After the ceremony, they took shelter inside, where Leo and Corrin suffered through an obligatory feast before, _finally_ , the guests began to disperse.  The drum of rain on the roof had softened to a patter.  Leo rose from the table, bumping his shin on his chair leg in his impatience and hoping nobody noticed.

“I appreciate your attendance today, everyone,” he said with a shallow nod.  “Though we’d love to stay and talk with you more, we should set off for Windmire while the rain has lessened.”  Under the pressure of everyone’s eyes, he extended a hand to help Corrin from her chair.

“Give me a minute,” she said quietly.  Her hair was still damp.  “I just need to tell everyone goodbye.”

One minute turned into forty.  Even once they were already outside, their belongings loaded onto the horses, Corrin had to say goodbye to her family and friends for a second and third time.  She might have grown up since her time in the tower, but she still didn’t think enough about how her actions might appear to others.  Leo might have sighed affectionately at it, if he wasn’t so concerned about how it might reflect on him.

Corrin embraced her siblings again.  The rain matted loose strands of her hair to her neck and pinned her white gown to her frame.  Luckily the fabric was thick enough that it didn’t matter.  Now, Leo was certain she was crying.  The emotion twisted her face, made it red and blotchy.  She still looked like the child that he remembered when she cried.

He held off for as long as he could, but eventually, he had to draw her away.  He cleared his throat as he approached her.  “I’m worried that the storm could worsen again,” he started.

She turned toward him, her lip pinned between her teeth like a butterfly to a board.

“Are…  Are you ready to go?” he asked gently, knowing that she wasn’t.  Knowing that it couldn’t matter, and hating it.

Corrin nodded decisively again.  “I’m ready,” she said, and her voice didn’t break.  He was proud of his wife, in that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Man, if only I'd planned ahead better, I could've posted this on the day of the royal wedding. Oh well, you know what they say about hindsight.
> 
> Again, I'm sorry for taking even longer than before with this chapter. It's been... a heck of a week, let's just say that. But as always, I'm so glad for your understanding. Thank you for reading, and for commenting on this story if you've done that. Those always make me smile. You guys are too sweet! (Just kidding, there's no such thing as too sweet. I'm always a slut for sweet comments.)
> 
> Next time, we return to Castle Krakenburg, and Corrin does too. That's going to be nerve-wracking, but I have faith in my girl. Next chapter preview: _“For gods’ sakes, I’m going to be your queen.”_


	7. The Sharp Edge of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Endless rain, falling heavily_   
>  _In a world where I have forgotten how to smile._   
>  _Another mile more, I watch it pass me by._   
>  _Under the pressure,_   
>  _Separating the make-believe,_   
>  _Like a rose, I bear a wilting heart._   
>  _In the storm, caught up in the wake,_   
>  _Like a flower among the waves…”_
> 
>  
> 
> —“Resuscitated Hope,” English cover by AmaLee
> 
>  
> 
> Note: I realized my song links might not be working right. But if anybody wants links to the songs I quote here, I try to remember to link them on my Twitter (@official_livian) around the time I post a new chapter. Or Google would work, I guess, if you don't wanna see my rambling too.

Corrin tried to be positive on the ride back to Castle Krakenburg, but it was really damned difficult.

It wasn’t just the rain, although that hadn’t let up much either.  She had wanted to make the journey on Silas’s horse, since she was familiar with the animal and that alone would have eased her nerves a lot—but Kaze had quietly urged her to pay attention to how that might look to Leo’s entourage.  Riding back to the castle behind a man who wasn’t her new husband.

Instead, Corrin rode on the back of the stallion that belonged to Aleta, the maid who had healed her injuries in Cyrkensia, while Aleta rode behind another Nohrian servant girl.  Her horse was a friendly one, black as pitch with a warm neck, but there was an air of mischief about him.  He nearly bucked Corrin off on the first day of their travels when a rabbit excited him.

She tried to spark a conversation with Leo—like the lively discussions they’d carried on in the Northern Fortress, a lifetime ago—but the most she could get out of him was that she didn’t need to worry about having her coronation ceremony the moment they returned to Windmire.  It would be held the following afternoon, to give her time to rest.  It was good to know, she supposed, but it wasn’t the light conversation she’d been hoping for.

 _Ugh.  Why did everything have to change?_ she thought, but she knew she’d forged that change with her own hands.

When they stopped long enough for a meal, the silence resounded off the walls of Corrin’s skull until her head throbbed from it.  Most of her unfamiliar traveling companions kept staring at her, like they were trying to discern her weaknesses or hoping to combust her with the force of their gazes.  Jakob’s glares managed to scare some of them off, but not all.  Kaze and Silas were distracted by Shigure, as the boy tried to orchestrate a game of sky knights at the table.

That left Corrin sitting between Leo and Camilla—and she _wanted_ to talk to them.  She did.  She just… didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t feel like she was glossing over everything, or that wouldn’t sour the meal with its somberness.

What made it worse was that, every time she tried to catch Leo’s eyes, he looked away.  After the fourth time, she put her foot down.  Well, she thought about putting her foot down—under the table, on top of his foot, _hard_.  Instead, she just whispered in his ear.

“You can at least talk to me, you know.  For gods’ sakes, I’m going to be your queen.”

Leo’s gaze finally slid onto her, but first he glanced over at Camilla.  Corrin recognized that look.  He was about to say something that Corrin wouldn’t like, and he was worried about Camilla’s reaction if he upset her.

“What is it?” she asked quietly.  “I won’t get mad.”

“You’re not going to be crowned as my queen,” he whispered back.  “You’re going to be my princess consort.”

Corrin stared at him blankly as this news seeped in.  Her thoughts flickered back to her mother’s letter.  _“You will make a radiant queen, my sweet daughter,”_ written in an elegant hand that she wished didn’t seem so unfamiliar.  Even her prophetic mother’s memory must have had its faults.  Maybe she’d just foreseen a Nohrian crown on Corrin’s head and assumed.

“But I thought…”

“It’s nothing personal,” he said quickly.  “Some of the uppermost members of my court were throwing a fit about the idea of having a Hoshidan queen, and worrying about what it might mean for Nohr if something happened to me.  Your place in my court will still be the same either way.  It’s just a lesser title.”

The idea prickled under her skin.  It must have shown on her face too, because Camilla leaned over from her seat at Corrin’s other side and murmured, “At least this way, you won’t have to adjust to a new title, right, darling?”

Corrin tried to return her smile.  “That’s a good point.”

Camilla clasped her hands together eagerly.  “I can’t wait for us to return to Windmire so you can finally meet Nina!  I’ve told her all about you, of course, though she got bored and wandered away after a bit.  Toddlers have such short attention spans.”

“And to be fair,” Leo said out of the side of his mouth, “your ‘Corrin is the best’ rants can drag on for hours.”

Camilla raised her eyebrows and turned to her husband.  “Niles, tell me that isn’t true.”

Niles raised his hands in surrender.  “I don’t get involved in arguments between my wife and my liege.  Official Niles policy, remember?”

Camilla turned back to Corrin with a sweet smile.  “Anyway, I can’t wait until we get home.  There are so many things around Castle Krakenburg that I never got the chance to show you, after all.”

Corrin fell silent as she finished her dinner, answering to Camilla’s cheery chatter with nods.  She couldn’t even conjure a solid mental image of what Castle Krakenburg had looked like.  All of it was hazy—a string of brief impressions, a sound or a color or a feeling, more than a concrete memory.

During the war, Azura had suggested that Corrin’s poor memory might be a result of her childhood trauma.  But Corrin refused to let herself think of Azura right now, lest she start crying again.  It was shameful enough that she had cried during her wedding vows, and she was fortunate that the rain had concealed her tears, so only Leo and Sakura had noticed.  Corrin didn’t want Leo’s people to think that they were getting a reluctant queen.

 _Well… a reluctant princess consort_ , she amended, and her teeth clenched.

* * *

When they reached Castle Krakenburg after days of riding, it was already late at night.  Shigure had fallen asleep on the road a few hours ago, bundled safely in Kaze’s arms.  As their party dismounted from their horses (and she gladly said farewell to Aleta’s puckish stallion), Corrin left the stables and glanced around.

None of this looked familiar.  It had been so long since she was here.  Maybe she should be grateful that it didn’t strike any chords in her, because those chords would’ve probably been the same ones that made her wake up sweating and shuddering.

A familiar figure stepped up beside her, not quite touching, and she turned to see Leo gazing up at Castle Krakenburg against the black sky.  “Camilla’s going to try to give you the grand tour tonight, regardless of the hour,” he said.  “So if I were you, I’d escape to your chambers while you still can.”

Corrin nodded and took a few steps toward the castle, then stopped, her cheeks coloring with embarrassment.  “I…  I don’t actually know which chambers are mine.”  Growing up, she had never had a room set aside for her in Castle Krakenburg as far as she knew—and now that she was going to be the king’s consort, her chambers would probably be different anyway.

“Oh.  Right.”  Leo gave her a thin smile, then took the lead.  “I’ll show you, then.”

She followed him up a spiraling staircase, past the curious eyes of unfamiliar servants.  His stride outmatched hers without trying.  She had to scurry to keep up with him, down several twists of a corridor, until they reached two sets of doors in a rather isolated wing.  Leo stopped.

“The door on the left is mine.  This one on the right leads to your chambers,” he said levelly.  “When you go inside, you’ll notice a door against the wall next to the bookcase.  It connects our chambers, so if you ever need to ask me something, feel free.”  He paused.  “As long as you knock first, of course, and as long as it isn’t some ungodly hour of the morning.  Though I guess I don’t need to worry about that last one.  You’ve never willingly woken up early, have you?”

“Hey!” Corrin protested, though that statement was totally right.  Rude, but right.

“And if you need anything else,” Leo added, “I’ve assigned Aleta to be your personal maid now that you’re here.  I hope you don’t mind.”

“She seems like a nice girl.  I don’t mind,” she said.  “Jakob might, though.”

“Tell him that he can rest assured I’m not trying to replace him.  Aleta is just here to fill the duties that Felicia might have carried out, if she hadn’t stayed behind with Prince Takumi.”  Leo averted his eyes.  “Helping you dress and wash your hair and other such things.  She should be on her way upstairs now.”

Corrin frowned.  Her arms and legs ached from days of travel.  She had hoped to get some time to herself tonight, to adjust to her new living quarters and reread her mother’s letter and center herself before the coronation.  Maybe cry out the rest of her feelings while no one was around, so her eyes would be clear tomorrow.

“If it’s all right…  Sorry, Leo, but do you think you could ask her to help my retainers get settled into their rooms instead?  I’m pretty tired.  I think I’d like to take care of my own hair-washing tonight.”

He nodded.  Faint circles underscored his eyes.  “Of course.”

After he was gone, she stepped inside the princess consort’s chambers.  They were furnished in hues of royal purple, offset by notes of black and cream.  The bed was even wider than the one she’d occupied in Castle Shirasagi, with ivory sheets and plump pillows and a mirror hanging on the wall beside it.  A bookcase made of dark, polished mahogany stood sentry against one wall, beside the door that Leo had mentioned before.

Instinctively, she stepped over to examine the shelves.  She traced her fingertip along several familiar spines and smiled.  Many of these were favorite stories of hers, from back in the Northern Fortress.  The rest were thick texts on history and strategy, the kind of books that Leo had always tried to get her to study when they were little.  His hand in these shelves’ selection was clear.

 _And here I was, being obviously dismissive of him and his maid._   She winced.  She’d spent the past few days stewing about his “just a lesser title” remark and almost let herself forget about his thoughtful side.  She was angry with herself for that.  Leo could be blunt and practical to a fault, but buried beneath it was a caring heart.

Corrin stepped into her bathing chamber and shucked off her riding clothes.  As she slipped into the warm water, she sighed.  She had always felt most at home in the water.  It made her body feel feather-light, despite the day’s heavy travel.  The water’s heat caressed the soreness from her muscles and joints.  She tilted her head back so her hair flowed free around her, so she was staring up at the ceiling as the water embraced her shoulders and neck until it came up to her ears.  And then, it filled her ears up, too.  Silence flooded them, silence and calm, until she couldn’t hear her worries whisper any longer.

Corrin only dragged herself out of the bath once the water grew unbearably cool.  She toweled off her hair and pulled on a pale rose-colored nightgown that she had brought from Hoshido.  It made her look a little childish, she realized as she glanced in the mirror—the ruffles on the hem, and the way the gown’s shape emphasized the fact that Corrin was _not_ built like Camilla at all—but then again, it was comfortable, and its fabric felt like home.  And it wasn’t like she needed to impress anyone.

She turned toward the wall that held the bookcase.  _I should apologize to Leo for being cold earlier.  I know he’s feeling uncomfortable right now too, even if he’d never tell me._

She reached out a hand toward the door that connected her rooms directly to Leo’s—and froze as a thought pierced her.  The obvious reason _why_ this door would exist between the king’s chambers and his wife’s.  She remembered Orochi’s implications and Niles’s, and color bloomed across her face until she felt feverish, her chest too tight.  Her breath felt imprisoned inside the cage that surrounded her lungs.

She made herself breathe deeply, slowly.  _This is Leo we’re talking about, though.  He’s just as exhausted and uncomfortable as I am.  Surely, if I knocked right now, he wouldn’t expect anything like_ that _from me…._

She forced herself to rap on the door before she could change her mind.  A few seconds passed, with Corrin’s heart lodged in her throat, before a familiar voice on the other side of the door called her in.

Gingerly, she stepped into Leo’s chambers.  She exhaled as she found him seated at a writing desk, reading by lamplight, on the opposite corner of the room from his imposingly tall bed.  His headband was nestled in his hair, a comforting familiarity when she’d seen him only in his crown the past several days, and—oddly enough—there was a slender pair of glasses perched on his nose.

“Since when do you wear those?” she asked.

It took him a moment to understand her question.  He glanced down at his clothes in confusion—typical men’s sleepwear, not so different from the kind he’d worn as a child—before he finally lifted a hand to his face and rediscovered his glasses.

“Oh, these.”  He glanced down at the book lying open on his desk.  “I don’t have to wear them often, just when I’m reading like this.”

He’d avoided her question.  Corrin set a hand on her hip.  “But you didn’t wear them before, did you?  We read together a lot before.  I never saw you wearing them.”

Leo’s gaze was still fixed on his book.  “It’s not a big deal.  I had a minor head injury three years ago.”

She stopped breathing.  She was back in the Woods of the Forlorn, gripping her Yato’s hilt with white-knuckled hands.  As the bogs slowed her Hoshidan comrades down, she’d been the first to reach Leo.  It was dark, and her allies were disoriented and exhausted and now, they were angry too.  She didn’t want anyone else to face her brother.  She wasn’t sure what might happen.  Afraid of either possibility.

_“Leo, be honest.  Did you really mean what you said earlier?  Have you… have you really always hated me?  Because… I’ve always loved you.”_

_“There’s no point in answering that.  It’s all over now.”_

Corrin struggled to remember the skirmish that followed.  She remembered striking with the flat of her Yato, always the flat.  The flash of Leo’s magic in the dark.  She hadn’t accidentally struck him in the head, had she?  Her memory was fogged by time and fear.  She couldn’t be sure.

 _Gods._   Another wound to add to the gulf of pain and memories that lay between them.  How could she ever breach that?

“Corrin?”  Leo’s voice brought her back to the surface, to where she stood against the door between their chambers.  In the lamplight, his eyes glowed amber.  “I said it isn’t a big deal.  This is the only aftereffect, and it isn’t much of one, when you really think about it.  Reading glasses just make me look clever.”

Corrin saw what he was trying to do, but she giggled even so.  “I guess so.”

Leo regarded her quietly for a moment.  The light bathed his face in paleness and shadows.  Hesitantly, his gaze swept down from her face to her nightgown, and the smile had faded from Corrin’s face when he met her eyes again.

“Did you need something?” he asked.  His voice cracked on the word “need.”

Cold jolted through Corrin, making her fingers feel numb and her head too light.  “Wh-what?  I just—I was just going to tell you thank you!  For the books, I mean.  I like them.”

Leo visibly relaxed.  “No problem.”

She stared at him for a moment in the flickering light of the lamp.  _So he’s been worried about the same thing I was?_   She laughed out loud.  _Of course he was._   She’d been worrying for no reason.

Leo cocked his head.  “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.  I was just…”  She didn’t know how to say it, but the words tumbled out in a flurry of giggles and breath.  “It’s just, everyone kept making all of these overbearing implications!  A-and I tried to ignore them, but they got inside my head and ended up making me really nervous for nothing.”

For a second, he just watched her, expressionless.  Then, he buried his face in his hands and laughed too.  “Gods…  They’ve really been awful about that, haven’t they?”

The sound of Leo’s laugh and the sight of his genuine smile, half-hidden behind his hands, made Corrin’s heart glow to rival the lamp on his desk.  It had been so long since she’d seen that precious smile.  She’d become convinced that they might never laugh together again—that things could never go back to the way they used to be when they were growing up.

_And again… I guess I’ve been nervous for nothing._

She peered down at Leo at his desk with a teasing smile.  “But you know,” she said, “it really is getting super late.  If I catch you nodding off during my coronation because you didn’t get enough sleep, I’ll never, ever forgive you.”

“What have I done?  Now I have two terrifying big sisters again,” he deadpanned.  But the simple smile lingered in his eyes as he closed the book.  “Fine, fine—I’ll go to bed.  I was at the chapter’s end, anyway.”

Corrin smiled.  “Well then,” she said, “I hope you sleep well.  Goodnight, Leo.”

“Goodnight, Corrin.”

As she stepped back into her chambers and closed the door, the smile was still affixed to her face.  She felt like she was immersed in the warm water again: her body light, the laughter that they had shared cleansing the fear from her bones.

Maybe this wouldn’t be the kind of marriage that she had daydreamed of as a girl.  But maybe it didn’t have to be such a sharp change from her and Leo’s previous dynamic, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, friends! I just got finished with a looong work week, and it was kinda exhausting... but now I'm off for like 5 straight days! Time to outline the rest of this fic... or sleep. Probably sleep, tbh. Also, it's a couple days delayed now, but happy pride month to whom it may concern! (That's not especially relevant to this chapter, but still.)
> 
> Next chapter is the coronation! Or... Corrination, if you will. (If I never post another chapter, it's safe to assume someone rightfully murdered me for that pun.) Preview: _"This must feel like coming home."_


	8. Crowning Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Don’t wanna get up, but out there is a brand-new day._
> 
>  
> 
> …
> 
>  
> 
> _No matter how much I think that I’m not worthy,_
> 
>  
> 
> _When today arrives, it won’t mean a thing._
> 
>  
> 
> _There’s really no use in mulling it all over,_
> 
>  
> 
> _So I will keep on walking forward, trusting my feelings.”_
> 
>  
> 
> —“Morning Glory,” English cover by Dima Lancaster

 

 Aleta arrived in the morning, far too early, carrying breakfast.  It was still dark outside Corrin’s window, which made her assume for a moment that it was even earlier than it really was, until she remembered she was back in Nohr.

Dawn wasn’t so obvious here.  It wasn’t always brilliant reds or dazzling shades of white and gold that made your heart pound.  It was often fractured by clouds.  Its beauty was incredibly subtle.  A muted rose, slowly sprouting while your back was turned.  Most of the time, it snuck up on you.  It took you unaware.

Corrin groaned as she rolled out of bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes.  “I thought…”  A yawn cut her off mid-sentence.  “…the ceremony wasn’t until the afternoon.”

“It is,” said the maid.  She was younger than Corrin by several years—around Sakura’s age, probably—with warm green eyes and golden hair swept back into a long, high ponytail.  “But there’s plenty of preparation to be done first.”

“That makes sense,” said Corrin as she started in on her breakfast, “but… really?  So early?”  She flinched at the irritability in her own voice and tried to soften it.  She wasn’t at her most pleasant until afternoon.  Sakura sheepishly called it a charm point; Takumi called it, far more honestly, a character flaw.

“Lady Camilla did warn me that you liked to sleep in.  Actually, her exact words were that early mornings ‘made you into a grouchypants like her brother.’  She—”  Aleta’s smile vanished.  Pink rushed into her face, highlighting the spray of freckles across her cheeks.  “Oh gods… you didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, did you?  I’m sorry, I-I wasn’t thinking about that at all!”

Corrin’s face flushed to rival Aleta’s as her meaning sunk in.  At least it startled her awake a little.  “No, no—I’m fine!  I’ll be fine.”  She cleared her throat.  “Um, what were these preparations you mentioned before?”

“Well, I know at some point, King Leo wants to run through the contents of the coronation ceremony with you, Lady Kamui.”  Aleta’s pronunciation of her Hoshidan name was horribly off.  It made the lovely name sound like a disjointed sneeze, and both the maid and Corrin winced.

“Most of my friends from Nohr just call me Corrin,” she told the girl with a reassuring smile between bites of breakfast.  “It was the name I had the longest to get used to—so you can just call me Corrin, if you’d like.”

“Thanks,” said Aleta.  “I—I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to or not.  The politics around this whole situation are a little… okay, _way_ too confusing for me to follow.”  She beamed.  “But it’s a nice name.  Lady Corrin.  It suits you.”

As Aleta set about laying out all of Corrin’s clothing for the ceremony, Corrin found herself thinking of Felicia, back in Hoshido.  She understood why Felicia had stayed behind—and she couldn’t fault her for it; Felicia was in love and not yet married a year—but all the same, Corrin missed her: her enduring smile and even her clumsiness.  But as she listened to little Aleta hum as she worked, she felt a bit less lonely.  She wondered if she and her new maid could become good friends, too.

“Don’t worry, you’re going to look amazing for your coronation day.”  Aleta stopped mid-step, a snorting laugh bursting out of her mouth.  “Holy smokes…  Your _Corrin_ -ation day!  Oh my gods, I just got that.”

As she dissolved into a fit of giggles, Corrin amended her previous thought.  She and Aleta could _definitely_ become good friends.

Before Corrin had the opportunity to change out of her nightgown, Leo knocked on her door—the main door that led into the hallway.  As he stepped into her chambers, he surveyed the gown that Aleta had laid out: a long, plum-colored ensemble with gold accents and layered skirts that bloomed out like rose petals.

“Sorry for the early hour,” he said, but the side of his mouth quirked up in a smirk, which totally negated the apology.  “I just wanted to brief you on how the ceremony was going to go.”

“The _Corrin_ -ation ceremony,” Corrin muttered, making Aleta giggle again.

Leo pointedly ignored the pun.  “The archbishop will be the one crowning you.  He’ll ask you to repeat a litany of vows after him, but you’ve already had experience doing that sort of thing recently, so you’ll be fine.  These vows are about upholding the law of Nohr, honoring and cherishing it…  Actually, it _is_ the same as a wedding ceremony, in essence.”

The idea made Corrin chuckle.  “Okay, then I promise to give the law my undying love forever and ever.”

If he was trying to hide his amusement, he didn’t do a great job.  “All right, but about the guest list—most of the audience is made up of high-ranking nobles and their families.  It’s just customary.  But we made sure not to invite anyone who would dare to put a toe out of line.”  In the faint morning light, his dark eyes glittered.  “Anyway, Camilla will be sitting in the front row, waiting to pounce on anyone who tried.”

They shared a laugh, before Leo dismissed himself to oversee preparations for the banquet that would follow the ceremony.  Aleta smiled as the door clicked shut behind him.

“I’m glad to see that you two have warmed up to each other more.”

Corrin smiled.  “Me too.”

“I was a little worried, you know,” Aleta confessed as she helped her out of her nightgown.  “You were pretty stiff around each other on the journey back—but you seem a lot more comfortable around each other now than you did yesterday.”  As Corrin shrugged out of the gown, she caught a spark in Aleta’s eyes.  “Now why is that, I wonder?”

Corrin shivered as the cool air brushed her skin.  “I-it’s not because of that!  We grew up together, that’s all.”

“Oh, right.  I’d almost forgotten you were raised as King Garon’s child too.”

Aleta helped her step into the coronation gown, then set about lacing it up.  The back of the gown was intricate, so it took a few minutes.  The maid chattered as she worked.  Corrin didn’t mind—it helped to wake her up and soothed her nerves about the ceremony.

“You know, it makes sense that his former majesty was able to pass you off as his daughter.  You’re fair-haired like most of his children.  And you don’t look too foreign, really.”

Corrin had occasionally wondered about that herself, when she looked at her Hoshidan siblings and then studied herself in the mirror.  A year ago, when she had asked Ryoma about it, he’d told her that Queen Mikoto was the _step_ mother to Corrin’s siblings.  But he hadn’t known anything about Corrin’s father, other than the fact that Mikoto was apparently a widow when she married Sumeragi.  The concept of a father felt so far removed from reality to Corrin—like the distant “Father” she’d grown up hearing about but rarely saw.

“I—well, my mother had me with her late first husband, before she married King Sumeragi,” she stammered out.  “My birth father was Nohrian.”  She figured that could be true, at least.  She didn’t really know, but at the least, she had deduced that he wasn’t from Hoshido.  And a Nohrian father was most likely to endear her to her Nohrian subjects.

“That makes sense,” said Aleta.  “And I’m happy for you—you must have fit in easily here.”  She gestured to the door that led out into the castle corridor.

“Oh,” said Corrin.  “I didn’t… exactly grow up _here_ , in the castle.”  Her chest twinged at the memories of her childhood tower.  “My health wasn’t the best when I was younger, so I was kept in the fortress to the northeast of here.  But Leo and Camilla and—and their siblings…”  Her throat tightened at the same time as the corset around her waist.  “They visited me as often as they could.  We didn’t live together, but we were close.”

“That’s really sweet,” Aleta said.  “So this must feel like coming home.”

Even though Corrin’s back was turned so the maid couldn’t see her face well, she still adopted a smile.  “I…  I guess you’re right.”

 _Coming home._   She desperately wanted to feel that way.  She wanted everything to work out exactly like that.  It was just that, in the spreading light of dawn, she wasn’t sure it was possible.

Morning had nearly faded into afternoon by the time Aleta finished readying Corrin for her ceremony.  After dressing her, the maid arranged her hair into an elaborate style, half up and half loose.  Corrin quickly lost count of how many hairpins had disappeared into her mane.  The look was complimented by a faux rose, deep purple like the gown, clipped into her hair near her temple.

“You look like a perfect Nohrian princess already,” said Aleta, adjusting a long necklace around Corrin’s throat that dipped into the front of her gown.  “No one will dare to make a fuss about your coronation now.”

Corrin smiled, though her nerves hadn’t been shaken off entirely.  _I really hope not._

 

 

The ceremony brought her back to the throne room—a chamber that Corrin hadn’t glimpsed since the battle against the draconic King Garon.  She had dreaded setting foot in the room, but it had been transformed in the past three years.  All signs of war had been washed clean.  The space had been decorated elaborately for the coronation, so she wouldn’t have recognized it as the same throne room at all.

The ceremony itself was dull, but at least her eyes didn’t blur with tears like they had during her wedding.  The archbishop’s baritone droned on and on, while Corrin dutifully repeated the words he spoke.  They really did sound a lot like wedding vows.

In the audience, Camilla and Leo sat at the center of the front row, accompanied by their retainers and Corrin’s.  Silas and Jakob’s eyes shone with pride.  Kaze was holding Shigure in his lap, trying to keep him quiet while the three-year-old attempted to hold a conversation with Niles and Camilla’s little Nina.

After the ceremony drew to a close, everyone clapped.  The crown fit snugly over Corrin’s hair.  Leo and Camilla came to join her before the archbishop, and Camilla wrapped her in a warm embrace.  “You did wonderfully, darling.”

Corrin leaned into the hug with a sigh.  No matter how hard she tried, she’d still been nervous.  But despite all that had happened in the past, Camilla’s praise could still ease her mind in an instant, like it had when she was younger.  And her presence was even more comforting now, in a new way.  It made this into a “royal family” thing, instead of a “king and his wife” thing.  If not for Camilla’s addition, the audience might have expected a heartfelt romantic exchange.

As it was, Leo just nodded to Corrin over their sister’s shoulder and murmured, “She’s right.  You did well,” with his eyes narrowed in contentment.  And that praise filled her with warmth, too.

The banquet in the evening went smoothly, as well.  The majority of the nobility only offered simple introductions and brief pleasantries, and Corrin saw a few people with soldierly bearings frown in her direction and exchange whispers behind Leo and Camilla’s backs, but there were plenty of kind people too.

Knights and nobles shook her hand warmly and congratulated her on the coronation with genuine smiles.  One woman said, with her eyes shining with hope and tears, that she believed this marriage marked the start of a bright future for the continent, and Corrin’s heart swelled.  She felt even warmer now than she had after her second goblet of wine.

“You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that.”

One particular nobleman, Lord Demetrius—a tall young man with dimples and curly brown hair—kept trying to persuade the royal family to relocate the celebration to the ballroom.  “It’s not a true party without dancing, after all!” he said with a booming laugh, leaning far across the table.  “And I’d be so honored if I got to dance with our lovely new princess.  I don’t know if they’re familiar with our Nohrian dances where she’s from, but I’d be flattered to show her my moves.”

Corrin suspected that he’d had a few too many goblets of wine.

Judging from the pinched look that flashed across Leo’s face, he suspected the same.  “Perhaps another time,” he evaded.

“Aww…”

Shortly after, Leo rose from the table, thanked everyone for their attendance at this important ceremony, and announced that he and his new princess consort were going to retire for the night.  His fingers laced through Corrin’s as he spoke.  His voice didn’t waver, but there was a taut, sheepish smile on his face that was met with a couple of poorly muffled snickers from Lord Demetrius and his friends.

A flush of cold darted through Corrin’s blood, banishing the warmth of the wine.  _Wait, wait, wait… what?_

But she was nervous for nothing again.  The moment they were free of the more public sector of the castle, Leo released her hand abruptly.  Once they made it back to the royal family’s wing, currently vacant, he let his shoulders relax and turned to Corrin with a rueful grimace.

“I’m sorry about all of that,” he said, tucking his hands away behind his back.    “It was the most forgivable excuse I could find to get out of there.”  He sighed.  Now that they were alone, he resembled the Leo she knew again.  Just an introverted boy genius with a crown still slightly too big for him. “That was starting to get draining.”

“A little,” Corrin agreed.

“Lord Demetrius and his friends can be rather…  Well, they’re well-meaning enough, and their fathers were important figures, hence their invitations today, but—how do I put this?”  Leo thought for a moment, then rolled his eyes.  “To be blunt, Demetrius is a bit of an ass.”

A surprised laugh escaped Corrin’s mouth before she covered it with her hand.  “I mean… he seemed friendly, at least?”

“Well, _yes_ ,” he said, as if the reason was obvious.

But after a hectic week and a healthy amount of wine, Corrin’s mind was fuzzy.  “Why?”

He glanced away wearily.  “He thought your gown was lovely, so he was hoping to get into it.”

“He likes wearing women’s clothes, then?”  She tilted her head.  “Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, Leo.  I could offer to let him borrow it someti—”

Leo’s eyes narrowed.  His cheeks were pink, which was a little odd, since she hadn’t seen him drink that much at the banquet.  “Corrin, don’t be an idiot.”

“Huh?”

“He wants to have s-sex with you.”

“What?” she squeaked.  “But—but he _knows_ I’m married!  Everyone does!”

Leo sighed.  “Father was married too, you know.  It didn’t stop him from taking a lot of concubines.”

“But…”

“Listen,” he said.  “I know that Camilla did her best to shelter you while you were growing up, but the nobility you’ve read about doesn’t usually align with the nobility that actually exists.”

“I know that,” she started.  “I did spend three years in Castle Shirasagi.”

“And didn’t anyone flirt with you there?”

His face still hadn’t returned to its normal hue.  She had always enjoyed flustering him when he was younger—usually by teasing him about getting dressed in a hurry and putting something on the wrong way—but now, suddenly, his embarrassment made her uncomfortable.  It was the topic.  It was the topic, and the fact that he’d held her fingers so securely inside his hand that bore the wedding ring, and yet here when they were alone, they were nothing like the way they looked to the outside world.

Corrin hesitated.  “Well… a few people might have shown an interest, I guess, but…”

 _But_ her older siblings had kept unwanted suitors away.  _But_ she had lived the first several months after the war’s end trapped inside a looming gray fog, oblivious to any prospects of love, and after that, she’d still been so scared of it—of waking from it—that it kept her standing still.

“But I wasn’t married then,” she finished weakly.

Leo laughed—a fleeting, wry sound.  “Say the word, and Camilla will make sure he never considers it again.”

Corrin winced at the latent possibilities of that remark.  “That won’t be necessary, but… I guess I appreciate it?” she said with a nervous laugh.

Leo surveyed her for a moment, quiet.  His silence unnerved her.  Used to be, he would have come back with a clever retort without missing a beat.  Now, they kept missing steps all over the place.

“I actually am tired, though,” he said finally.  “Any more talking, and I’m going to get snappy with you.”  He winced.  “Not to say that you’re as draining to talk to as most people, but… ugh.  You know what I mean.”

“You’ve exhausted your reserves of social skills for the day?” she finished.

He nodded gratefully.  “Exactly.”

“No problem.  I hope you rest well.”

Corrin hesitated.  Her first instinct was to kiss his forehead goodbye like she would have done when he was little, before he hit his growth spurt.  At the very least, she would have hugged him tight, with his head tucked snugly under her chin.  But… things were different now, whether she wanted them to be or not.  And not just because he was taller than her.  The ring on her finger felt heavy.  The floor felt unsteady beneath her feet when they were alone together.

Instead, she just gave an awkward little wave and disappeared into her room.  Aleta was there to help her out of her gown and hairpins, and then Corrin rushed through her bath and collapsed into bed.

 _Whew.  I think I exhausted all of_ my _social skills for the day, too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! My computer died. Now I've got a new one, and also I got married today so that's also out of the way! ...Yes, I'm posting this on my wedding night. Be grateful. :P
> 
> Next chapter: _“He had always hated the sight of her tears.”_


	9. Unwithering Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"My sister, what made you fall from grace?_   
>  _I’m sorry that I was not there to catch you._   
>  _What have the demons done?_   
>  _What have the demons done_   
>  _With the luminous light that once shined from your eyes?_   
>  _What makes you feel so alone?_   
>  _Is it the whispering ghosts that you feared the most?_   
>  _But the blackness in your heart won’t last forever."_
> 
>  
> 
> —"O Sister,” City and Colour

In the two weeks that followed the coronation, Leo didn’t see a lot of his wife.  He had fallen behind on a lot of work in the time it took to get to Cheve and back, and most of those important documents and meeting requests came with a strict time frame attached.  During the day, he met with advisors and dignitaries, striking that agonizing balance between “passably personable” and “uncompromising where it counted.”  He stayed awake late into the night, poring over papers until his head ached and the words blurred.  A few snatched hours of fitful sleep, and then, he awoke at dawn to do it all again the next day.

Whenever he did catch a moment of free time, during lunch or just a twenty-minute interlude between meetings, it seemed that Corrin was always spending time with her retainers and Silas, or even more likely, that Camilla had just spirited her off somewhere.  Camilla was intent on showing her beloved little sister, or sister-in-law, all of the glittering sights of Castle Krakenburg and the true Windmire that lay beneath the city.

A few years ago, Leo might have been jealous that Camilla so willingly showed her the concealed tunnel from the castle that she’d kept a “secret” from him for so long.  Now?  He was too fatigued to care.

That was a lie.  He cared.

He cared because two of the only people who seemed to notice when he got exhausted like this were always gone when he wanted to see them lately.  He was bitter because if he’d had a queen—not a princess or queen consort, but a fully-fledged queen, his equal in power—she might have shared the weight.  And he’d known from the start that Corrin would have willingly borne that weight.  The woman who’d given so much of herself for peace’s sake would have gladly sacrificed a few hours of her time so Leo could have some peace of mind.

At least she seemed happy here, thanks to Camilla.  After her tears in Cheve, he had worried how she would cope in Windmire.  Clearly, he’d worried for nothing.

Sometimes, in her absences, he caught sight of her retainers in the corridors.  Jakob, who he vaguely remembered from growing up, bustling by with a polite greeting as he wielded a pot of tea.  Or the Hoshidan ninja, Kaze, one of the prisoners who Corrin had begged Father to spare just before the war started—who Leo had shown mercy to, just to spare his sister from tears.

On occasion, Leo passed by Kaze’s young son too.  The boy had made fast friends with Niles and Camilla’s two-year-old daughter, in the swift and guileless way that only small children were capable of.  In a way, it reminded Leo of a younger Corrin, how earnestly she had embraced him and his siblings as her family, even though he’d been so wary of her when they first met.  The scar on his back from the concubine wars was a lot more prominent back then.  The first time she’d tried to hug him, he had flinched.

Leo’s niece and Shigure made a striking duo as they cavorted through the halls: Nina with her strident laugh and Camilla’s striking lavender hair, and Shigure with a head full of sky blue, like his departed mother’s.

_Azura._   Leo hadn’t known her well before her kidnapping, because like with Corrin later on, he’d been wary of strange siblings, and anyway, both he and Azura were quiet children who kept much to themselves.  But he had seen her often by Corrin’s side during the war.  Through the storm of swords and bloodshed, the two women had bolstered each other.  Corrin had looked at Azura the way that a younger Leo had wanted her to look at him.

That thought stalled in his mind.  He found himself seated at his writing desk, reading the same line of text over and over again until he couldn’t recall what he’d been thinking about.

Oh, right—Corrin.  Not that he cared, but for the sake of their onlookers, it was a shame that Leo hardly ever caught a glimpse of Corrin even though, in theory, they were husband and wife.

 

* * *

 

On the fifteenth day following her coronation, Leo was on his way back from the castle library, with a hefty hardback tucked beneath his arm.  He needed the book for one of his treatises.  After that was complete, he would be nearly caught up with his work, though he knew more work would inevitably come.

As he strode through the corridors, he heard a snatch of murmured conversation between two servants.  Usually, he would have ignored it, but their concerned tones snagged his attention—and then, their words held it captive.

“…and Her Highness wouldn’t respond when I asked if she was all right.  She just kept staring.”

“Gods,” the other maid whispered.  “You don’t think…?”

“Yes,” said the first.  “It was _that_ room.”

“Where is she?” Leo asked, startling them both.  He was off the moment they answered.  He’d already suspected before they even spoke.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it._

He found Corrin in the room that he’d tried so hard to avoid when he and Camilla returned home from King Ryoma’s coronation.  Since those early days, when Leo had kept his hands gripped tightly behind his back so people wouldn’t notice them shaking, he’d had the chambers completely refurbished.  That way, even if he and Camilla could never _forget_ , it would at least soften the sharp edges of the memory.

Corrin was blank-faced and pallid, her eyes fixed on one spot on the ground.  The place where Elise had fallen.  Several servants stood around, whispering to each other or trying to call her attention.  Jakob in particular looked wracked with worry.  His liege’s hands quivered at her sides, and her gaze looked so far away.

Leo purposefully made his footfalls ring out like thunder as he stepped forward, drawing the servants’ attention away from her.  “Don’t you have duties to attend to?”

Most of the servants didn’t budge.  Their gazes drifted back to Corrin.  In the silence, he could hear that her breaths were too shallow, too fast.  His pulse sped.  _Gods_ …  He’d believed she was doing well here.  Was he really so ignorant, or just willfully blind?

He gritted his teeth.  “Get out already!”

The servants retreated from the room, all except Jakob.  He lingered, his features taut, his hand outstretched toward Corrin but not quite touching her shoulder.

“Jakob,” said Leo, making him jump.  “Go brew her some calming tea.  Bring it up to her chambers when you’re done.”

“R-right away, milord.”

Once they were alone, Leo finally allowed himself to approach Corrin’s side.  He started to reach for her arm, then hesitated, just as Jakob had.  He could only imagine the anxiety clawing at the insides of her skull, those jagged nails of memory making her head screech.  Too loud to hear anything else.  He’d felt that before, too.  He had concealed it better than this—he hoped—but Camilla and Niles had seen through him.  Probably because they had dealt with it, too.

What had they done to console him?  Camilla had always put her arms around him—but never as tight as her usual, almost smothering hugs.  When he was like this, she was gentle.  Her hold was fragile enough that he could break free easily if he wished.  Her battle-strengthened arms were delicate then, so it wouldn’t make it any harder to breathe than it already was.

Gently, Leo wrapped his arms around Corrin’s shoulders.  His heartbeat was still racing from worry.  For a moment, she was stiff in his arms, her face still horribly blank.

“Corrin,” he whispered.  “Stay with me.”

The spell over her fractured.  Her features twisted into a grimace, and a sob shattered from her mouth.

Leo let her cry into his shoulder, even if her tears seeped through the fabric of his shirt and made his skin beneath damp.  Her sobs made her whole body quake against his.  He could feel her heart hammering against his chest.  As her rapid breaths slowed and her tears slowly faded from a flood to a trickle, Leo slid his hand down to rest against her shoulderblades, softly urging her forward.

“Come on,” he said.  “Let’s get out of here.”

He escorted her back to her chambers, looking daggers at anyone who stared at her too hard along the way.  Once there, he eased her down so she was sitting on her bed.  She blinked up at him with a soggy sniffle.  Leo crossed the room and took a seat at her desk, where a bookmarked novel, half-read, rested beside her unlit lamp.

It took him a moment to gather the right words.  The ones that Niles had spoken to him in the aftermath before.  “Do you… want to talk about it?”

She stared at him across the room.  Her bloodshot eyes only made the sunset color of her irises glow brighter.  “I-I…”

“You don’t have to,” he added.  “But you can if you want to.”

“I…”  She trailed off into silence for a moment.  Her head bobbed in a determined nod.  “I guess we need to.”

In those words, Leo saw a bridge, stretching timorously across the gap that she’d driven between them with her choice.  He wanted to step forward.  Part of him wanted to dash across it.  Instead, he sat in silence, waiting for her words.

“I just…  I’m sorry, don’t misunderstand—I do love spending time with Camilla here.  And you too, of course.”  She smiled weakly.  As if they had really gotten any time together since her coronation day.  “I want things to be the way they always were.  And Camilla’s trying so hard to make it so, b-but…  It’s not how it used to be.  Th-they’re gone.  And they always will be, and…”

Her eyes bloomed with fresh tears.  Part of Leo wanted to stop her before she finished that thought, because he already knew what she was going to say.  And he had always hated the sight of her tears.

But there was another part of him too, that same darkness in his chest that used to coil tight with jealousy whenever Xander and Camilla doted on her.  And even if Leo hated that side of himself, that darkness still wanted to see the guilt rip into her.  The same way the deaths she’d left in her wake had torn through his family.

“And… i-it’s all my fault.”

Tears bled down Corrin’s cheeks, dripping from the soft point of her chin.  She cupped her face in her hands as her shoulders shook with half-stifled cries.  The darkness in his chest wanted him to take pleasure in this sight, told him it was what she deserved.

“And…”  Her breath shuddered.  “And I know I don’t d-deserve to cry for them.  I don’t deserve to wish… that things could be how they were.  Even if I loved them with all my heart…  That doesn’t change that they’re d-dea—th-that they’re only gone because of me.”

But that other part of Leo—the seed of light that Corrin’s earnest smile had planted in his chest when he was small—wanted to wrap her in his arms again.  Looking at it rationally, she had shouldered this burden for over three years now.  She had sworn at Ryoma’s coronation that she would carry the weight for the rest of her life, and Leo knew it was true.  And that light within him whispered that nobody deserved to carry that kind of weight alone.

“Don’t you think that’s a little arrogant of you, Corrin?”

She lifted her face from her hands, her sobs giving way to confusion.  “Wh-what?”

“You made a choice, it’s true.  And it was one that did impact everyone.  But they…”  His voice came out weaker than he wanted it to.  He forced himself to keep his breathing steady, so his words wouldn’t shake.  “But Xander and Elise made their own choices, too.  You didn’t force them to do anything.  Besides… surely you realize how furious they would be if they knew you were blaming yourself so much.”

Corrin frowned.  Her lower lip quivered.  “I deserve to blame myself, though.  I…  I was a terrible sister to them, even after the fact.”

Leo’s first instinct was to deny her words.  But that wouldn’t have any effect on the thought process that she was imprisoned in.  Instead, he asked, “Why do you say that?”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No.  Why would I joke about it?”  Leo crossed his arms, watching her intently from her desk chair.  “What makes you think that?”

“I-I didn’t even come to their funeral!”  Another teardrop streaked down her cheek.  “I wanted to… but… I knew I didn’t belong there.  So soon after the war ended, and as the princess of Hoshido who…  As the p-person who caused their d…”  She stopped.  “I’m sorry.  Not to be arrogant.  I just—people wouldn’t have wanted me there.  You know that.”

_Elise and Xander would have wanted you there.  Camilla wanted you there._   Leo bit back that thought.  Giving voice to it would only worsen her guilt.

Instead, he straightened his shoulders, ordering that infernal darkness in his chest to fall silent.  “I can take you to visit them this weekend… their graves.  If you want.”

Corrin’s breath shuddered.  “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

 

* * *

 

The weekend came too soon, cloudy and cold.  Leo was accustomed to it, but Corrin had to bundle up in thick layers before she accompanied him to the royal graveyard.  The two graves lay side by side.  The soil over them was covered in flowers, twin bushes of roses that never withered, no matter how dark the days in Nohr.

Corrin knelt before the graves with her head bowed low.  Her hair was loose so it curtained her face from Leo’s view, but as she started to speak—hesitated—and had to force herself to start again, he knew there were tears in her eyes.

“There are… so many things that I’ve wanted to say to you,” she said, her breaths forming small clouds as they escaped her lips.  “For so, so long.  And now that I’m actually here…  D-damn it, I can’t remember half of them anymore….”

That darkness within him urged him to feel vindicated by her tears.  Because whatever he claimed about his siblings’ choices, they never would have had to make those choices if Corrin had only stayed with them.  If she’d stayed by their side, they all could have lived.  The darkness wanted her to suffer.  Wanted her to cry.

But Leo reminded himself that the darkness was selfish and irrational.  Corrin had suffered all along.  She had pleaded with her Nohrian family for peace at every turn.  She had never wanted this.  And yet she had carried it until its weight shattered her.

“I love you both so much.  And I’m so, s-so sorry,” Corrin whispered, and his heart ached.

Leo wanted to kneel by her side and console her, but he thought better of it.  This was a moment that she needed to tread through by herself.  She needed to speak with Xander and Elise alone, as she hadn’t since the night they died—or shortly afterward, if her claims back then were true: when she had nearly perished and had spoken to them while she was in some sort of limbo.  Either way… Leo wouldn’t intrude on her reunion with them.

Anyway, even though he’d tried before, he didn’t have the words that could mend this.  He wasn’t a healer in any capacity, much less a healer of the mind.  Those didn’t exist.  There were words that could ease a bit of the burden off a person’s shoulders, words that could anesthetize a bit of the pain.  But words couldn’t heal it altogether.  They couldn’t stitch a shattered soul back together again in the wake of such a tragedy.  So Leo clasped his hands behind his back and forced himself to stay silent and at a distance as he watched Corrin weep in front of Elise and Xander’s gravestones.

Three years ago, he had used his magic to plant roses in the earth to watch over his fallen siblings.  But now, he was helpless to do anything but watch as they were watered by Corrin’s tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was somehow both very hard and very easy to write. It definitely needed to happen, and it's important to their progress, and I AM a terrible jerk who loves angst, but... I don't like hurting my kiddos. They're good. They deserve goodness. But I mean, that's what I get for writing post-Birthright Leo/Corrin. A steaming pile of angst. (And not even remotely steaming yet. Just angst.)
> 
> Thank you again to my readers! All your kind comments (and congratulations on my wedding, ahhh) are really appreciated. You make me want to do my best! Updates will still be slower than my updates on P+P were, because I'm infinitely busier now than I was in 2016, but I'll try to make up with it by being a better writer now than I was then. (I hope.)
> 
> Next chapter preview: _"I'm glad we're in agreement."_


	10. The Most Sacred Duty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“I wanna be your bit of light_   
>  _And hold you close as you wake from the darkness._   
>  _Promise that you'll meet me on the other side._   
>  _This silent snow has fallen in the city that once hid our secrets away._   
>  _Things we never said haunt me._   
>  _You're the deepest cut I've ever had,_   
>  _A scar that's been carved in my heart._   
>  _I will retrieve the song of this forgotten world_   
>  _That erases our fate, makes us smile once again._   
>  _I swear you won't be here alone.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> —“It’s Like a Tiny Bit of Light,” English cover by Dima Lancaster and Hikaru Station

Corrin breathed a silent sigh.  It was dinnertime, and yet she hadn’t seen Leo in the great hall, and now that she’d returned to her chambers, she could hear the persistent scratching of his pen through the wall.

_He’s always working so hard._ It was admirable, certainly, but Corrin couldn’t overlook the dark rings that gathered beneath his eyes on the rare moments she saw him, or the way his eyes were always bleary.  _He’ll drive himself to madness this way.  Doesn’t he realize?  There’s such a thing as being too selfless!_   Protective instinct surged inside her.

She stepped across her room to the door near the bookcase and rapped on it.  She let herself in before he could answer.

Leo looked up from a heap of documents, his reading glasses perched on his nose, and scowled.  “I could have sworn I asked you to knock first.”

“I did knock,” Corrin said playfully.  “I just didn’t wait for you to say ‘come in.’”

He groaned.  “That doesn’t count.”

“Too late.”

He rolled his eyes and turned back to his paperwork.  A minute passed before he glanced up again.  “Why are you still here?”

She laughed, but it came out sounding sour.  “What?  Is it so wrong for a wife to want to spend time with her husband?”

The space between Leo’s brows furrowed.  In the lamplight, his eyes hardened, the way they had when she’d made her choice three years ago.  “Why?” he asked flatly.  “I’m never going to fall in love with you.”

Corrin stilled.  The thought had never been present in her mind.  She’d never dreamed it could happen, never even _wanted_ it to happen.  She had only come here because she wanted to distract him from his burdens.  That, and she’d missed her brother’s company.  The only time they had spent together lately was filled with her crying, when she wanted it to be filled with laughter like the warmth they had shared on the night before her coronation.

But at the same time, the harshness of his voice stung her.  She felt her hands clench at her sides.

“Good!” she said, trying to match his tone.  That hateful little part of her that chased after revenge…  It had never quite faded after the war, had it?  “I never wanted you to, anyway!  That would be disgusting, after all.”

Leo’s eyes widened in the light of his reading lamp.  Then, he narrowed them again.  Obviously, his own medicine tasted bitter.  “I’m glad we’re in agreement,” he replied.

Corrin nodded.  Her tear ducts prickled at the coldness in his voice, but she refused to let herself cry while she was still in this room.  “I’ll leave you to your work, then.”

As she returned to her chambers and shut the door behind her, it occurred to her that she hadn’t told him goodnight.  Her conscience wanted to turn around and say it, and to apologize for the sharpness of her words.

They were adults now, and royals at that, not a pair of bickering children.  She shouldn’t be trying to pick fights with him.  Ideal situation or not, he was her husband.  A good person.  She shouldn’t have called the idea of him loving her disgusting, just because she wanted to wound him with her words.

But she’d already told him that she would leave him to his business, and she would only irritate him more if she barged into his room again.  She would just have to apologize tomorrow.

Instead, Corrin sifted through the books and belongings on her desk until she found Queen Mikoto’s letter.  It was odd how she could feel so disconnected from her mother—Corrin’s memories remained little more than a void, and her emotions toward her were mostly comprised of guilt over her death—and yet the letter Mikoto had left behind brought her so much comfort.

_“Don’t be afraid, and keep your heart open.  There is so much about you that is worthy of love.”_   She read the words over and over, engraved them on her mind until she could nearly believe in their merit.

At last, she set the letter aside and pulled out a blank piece of parchment.  It had been nearly two weeks since she had last written to her siblings in Hoshido, and she longed for them desperately.  Her relationship with them wasn’t nearly as complicated as hers with Leo and Camilla had grown to be.  That golden simplicity…  She missed it.

 

_“To my beloved siblings: Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura,_

_I hope this letter finds you well.  I’m sorry that it’s been so long since my last one.  Camilla has been introducing me to all that Windmire has to offer, and as you can probably imagine, she has kept me pretty busy.  Still, I wish I’d found the time to write to you sooner.  There aren’t enough words to express how much I miss you.”_

 

Her pen skidded to a stop, water beading in her eyelashes.  _No._ She wasn’t going to tell her family how much she needed their presence at her side.  She couldn’t tell them about her breakdown several days ago or her argument with Leo tonight.

If they thought she was unhappy, they would want to rush to Windmire and bring her home—only that wasn’t possible.  Castle Krakenburg was her home now, and she knew that, and so did her family in Hoshido.  She didn’t want to put them in such a position.

And she didn’t want them to be disappointed in her weakness.

Corrin picked up the pen again with rigid determination and kept writing.

 

_“That isn’t to say that I’m unhappy here.  As I mentioned, Camilla and I have had many pleasant outings together, and it has been wonderful to reconnect with her.  Leo has been busy catching up on the work he missed during the wedding, for the most part, but we got to spend time together this weekend, and that was good for me.  And of course, I’ve always respected his diligence._

_Jakob, Kaze, and Shigure are settling in well, too.  Shigure has become friends with Camilla’s daughter, Nina.  As you might have noticed back in Castle Shirasagi, he’s also taken a shine to Silas.  Both of them have helped him adjust to the move quite well, and I’m very proud of him for being so mature about this._

_I hope everything is going well for everyone at home.  Send my love to your families and retainers, and feel free to write me back whenever you have time.  Just because I’m away doesn’t mean that I don’t want to know everything that’s going on in Castle Shirasagi!_

_Your loving (and curious) sister,_

_Kamui”_

 

She skimmed over the letter briefly, then put it to the side to let the ink dry.  She would ask Jakob to mail it tomorrow morning.  For now, her eyelids felt heavy.  She shuffled over to her bed and quickly succumbed to sleep’s summons.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Corrin was on her way to breakfast when she glimpsed the back of Leo’s blond head in the corridor.  Guilt lanced through her as she remembered her harshness the previous night.  She opened her mouth to call out to him, hoping to pull him aside and apologize, but she stopped as she caught sight of his face.

He looked even more exhausted than he had the previous evening.  He was wrapped up in conversation with a couple of his advisors, and his tone was low and hoarse.  He didn’t even notice Corrin as she passed.

The image weighed on her mind all day.  That evening, when she heard the scratching of his pen against parchment again, she rose and knocked on his door.  This time, she waited until he sighed and called, “Come in,” before she opened it.

Leo was already dressed in his sleepwear, but he didn’t look like he planned on resting anytime soon.  He sat hunched over his desk, his neck craned as he pored over the paper in front of him.  He clutched his pen in his hand, but it didn’t move.  Slowly, he glanced up at Corrin.

“You know,” he said, “you really shouldn’t feel obligated to act like a wife toward me.  At least when there’s no one around like this.”

And she knew that, she really did.  But the raspiness of his voice and the circles under his eyes, highlighted by the lamplight, made her heart stretch out toward him.  She’d entered into this marriage because she wanted to keep her family safe from harm—and maybe she’d mainly had her Hoshidan family in mind back when she’d cemented this resolve, but she wanted to be there for Leo, too.  It was a favor she’d left too long unreturned.

“I don’t feel any obligation like that,” she said.  “I may be your wife now, but first and foremost, I’m your sister.  And _that_ is a duty that I can never overlook.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“When I was living in the Northern Fortress,” she started, “you were always the one helping me.  You knew so much more than I did.  And I always appreciated your help, but… it bothered me.  I was the older one, and yet I always had to rely on you.  And so… I always wished…”  She laughed lightly.  “This is going to sound so silly, but one of the reasons I wanted to leave there so badly was so I could finally be the big sister you and—and Elise deserved.”

The lamp on Leo’s desk flickered as she spoke.  It cast gold and shadows across his hair and made the planes of his face glow.  “I did sneak you out of there once.”

Corrin had the simultaneous urges to wince and smile at the memory.  She had been on the cusp of adulthood back then, but she had been so naïve.  All she’d wanted was to get a taste of the outside world (another taste, at least, after that brief and disastrous childhood escapade with Silas).  And Leo—clever, practical Leo, who knew about his father’s rules and the lethal consequences of breaking them—had helped her sneak out of the fortress anyway.

Of course, it had all gone terribly wrong, hence her desire to wince, but at the same time… there had been a few moments, like when they had looked up at the stars together and the sky looked full of magic, when her chest was so full of happiness that she’d thought it might explode.

“Even then,” she said, “it was you helping me.  You snuck me out disguised as a maid.  You rescued me when I was in trouble.  I…”  She smiled sheepishly, leaning back against the solid wood of his door.  “I promised myself that I’d repay you for all your help someday.  Someday, I’d go to festivals with you and buy you whatever you wanted.  I’d get stronger so I could protect you on the battlefiel…”

Her voice trailed off, a new wave of guilt crashing against her.  She tried to shake it off, but droplets of it still clung to her.

“You don’t have to feel obligated to do any of that, either,” said Leo.  “There’s no blood between us—obviously.”

“It’s not an obligation,” she said.  “It’s gratitude.”  She took a deep breath, forming the words that she’d mulled over all day.  “I know that the fact that we’re… married now makes all of this awkward.  But I don’t want us to ignore each other because of that.  Last night, I spoke too harshly.”

Leo stared at her, twisting his pen around in his fingers as he waited for her to continue.

“Maybe we don’t want to fall in love with each other, because that would feel too weird.  But… that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be close to you again.”  Emotion tightened her throat.  “Whatever we might look like to the world outside these doors… I-I want us to be a family again!”

She heard Leo’s breath catch.

“It can never be exactly like it was,” she said, “but I want to be here for you when you need me.  I want to help you, like you’ve always helped me.”

He blinked up at her from his desk.  Again, his face seemed to glow, and she wondered if it wasn’t just the lamp.  He didn’t show his feelings as readily on his face as she did, but she got the feeling that her words made him happy.

“So tell me how I can help you, Leo,” she said.  She paused.  “And don’t you dare say, ‘ _By getting out of my room,_ ’ or else I’ll tickle-attack you.  And I’m sure you remember how well that always used to go for you.”

Leo crossed his arms defensively over his chest.  He thought for a second, his teeth ghosting over his lip.  “If you really want to,” he began, “you could listen to this proposition I was working on.  I’ve been staring at it for too long.  I think it needs a fresh set of ears.”

A smile overtook Corrin’s face.  She drew close to his chair.  “All right, lay it on me.”

Corrin listened as Leo read the document out loud.  Then, they talked it over together.  She pointed out all of the good parts, and noted a couple of places where she thought the argument could be worded differently.  Before long, he’d finished refining it.

He looked up from the page, his eyes warming as they met Corrin’s.  “Thank you for that.  I think it helped a lot.”

She smiled again.  “Thank you for letting me help.”  She observed his half-lidded eyes and settled her hands on her hips.  “Now,” she said, “you need to go to bed.”

“But I still have more work to—” he started,

“Too bad,” said Corrin.  Her voice softened.  “I’ll help you with it tomorrow, all right?  But if you wear yourself out any more, you won’t be able to do your best work.”

He heaved a sigh.  “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right,” she teased.  “So are you going to get in bed yourself, or do you need me to tuck you in?  Maybe sing you a lullaby?”

Leo grumbled as he rose from his desk.  “You’re not Camilla.”

“A bedtime story, then?”

“No thanks.”

“An… interesting factoid?” Corrin asked.

“Hmmm…”  He crawled into bed, tugging the sheets up over him.  Then, he slipped the reading glasses off his face and tucked them onto the nightstand beside him.  “All right, here’s something that I’ve been curious about.  How does it feel to turn into a dragon?”

“Damn it,” she said under her breath.  “Straight to the tough questions, huh?”  She pondered for a moment.  “It’s really hard to put into words.  I’ll do my best, but…  Okay, do you remember that summer when you suddenly got taller than me?”

Leo chuckled.  “You think I’d forget?  I lorded it over you for weeks.”

“Literally,” she quipped.  She paused again to think.  “It’s like one of those sudden growth spurts, but it happens all at once.  The first couple of times, I remember having trouble adjusting to the size of my dragon body.  I ran into things—like, a lot of things.”

He snickered to himself.

“Kind of like _you_ did right after you hit that growth spurt,” she said, and Leo went silent.  “At the same time, after I got used to it, it started to feel pretty natural.  It became like going from walking to swimming—the two feel different from each other, but neither is really _strange_ once you’ve learned how to do it.  Does that make any sense?”

“I guess so,” said Leo.  “Well, mostly.”

“Mostly?” she asked.

“There are still a couple of points of confusion.”  He busied himself by adjusting his blankets.  “For example, where do your clothes go when you turn into a dragon?  They’re still intact when you transform back, but what keeps them that way when your body transforms?  And what about your other belongings?”

Corrin frowned.  “I don’t actually know how that works,” she admitted.

“If it was me, I’d be a little curious,” said Leo.

“You’re always curious,” she shot back with a smile.  “Now, stop stalling and get some sleep.”

 

* * *

 

The following evening, Kaze was on his way back from tucking Shigure into bed when he nearly stumbled into Silas in the corridor.  The knight looked startled, as if he’d been focusing intently.

“What is it?” Kaze asked.  “Is something wrong?”

Silas scratched the back of his head sheepishly.  “It’s nothing.  I just haven’t gotten the chance to see Corrin since yesterday morning.  And when I saw her then, she looked pretty upset.”

Kaze nodded.  She’d looked the same way when he’d seen her yesterday afternoon, and after what Jakob had confided in him about Kamui’s panic several days ago…  “Do you think she’s still in a state about what happened to Princess Elise?”

“I don’t know,” said Silas.  “Should…  Should we check in on her?”

“Maybe so.”

But when they reached the door to Kamui’s chambers, Kaze was greeted by the sound of raucous laughter trickling out from inside.  “Oh my _gods_ , Leo.  You’re the worst!”

Kamui was answered with a scoff.  “You set me up perfectly for that,” King Leo said.  “You’re just upset that you didn’t see it coming.”

“That’s not…”  She huffed.  “Ooh, you’re gonna get it now!”

There was a soft _thud_ from behind the door, and then a yelped curse from King Leo.  “N-no fair!  You—you’re playing d-dirty!”

Kaze exchanged a glance with Silas, who had gone motionless as a marble sculpture in front of the door.  His face was as scarlet as a pomegranate.  “M-m-maybe we should leave them be….”

And before Kaze could ask if he was embarrassed or just suffering from a terrible fever, Silas took off down the hallway.  Kaze hadn’t witnessed a man moving so swiftly in armor since the war.

Behind the door, Kaze heard sounds of a scuffle, followed by more of Kamui’s unrestrained laughter.

“I said, that’s not fair!” King Leo’s voice protested.  “You can’t just tickle someone and then knock over the board because you’re losing at chess!”

“Oops.  I’m sorry, Leo,” she said, except her giggles didn’t wane.

Kaze turned away from the door with a soft smile fixed to his lips.  Queen Mikoto had been right in her reassurances: there were so many things about his liege that were worthy of affection.  Of course King Leo would adore her.  Kamui was warm and generous, caring and loyal and bursting with spirit.

More than that, she was strong.  Kaze had been afraid of what might happen if she was taken out of the sunlight of Hoshido, but he’d been foolish to worry so much.

Even here in the dark, she bloomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been having to do a lot of job training stuff, part of our house flooded, etc., etc. (Just some water pipe issue, not like a massive storm or anything, no worries! All's good now.) But my next update will be significantly sooner. I'm trying something new with this fic, at least in what I've written so far, where after every 10 chapters, there's a little "intermission" section: that is, a shorter-than-usual section, not something completely superfluous, but I couldn't think of anything snappier to call it, so we're going with "intermissions." Feel free to grab drinks and popcorn as you read it, haha.
> 
> A preview of the one coming up next: _"Part of me hoped that they would have a happy ending."_
> 
> Thanks to every one of you who's read this far. As always, I really appreciate your kind words or even just taking the time to read what I wrote. Thank you for cheering me on! I'll do my best!


	11. Intermission

“…and so we decided we’d go back to being brother and sister again when nobody is around,” Corrin explained to her retainers.

Jakob blinked.  “I suppose that does feel much more natural to you.”

Kaze chuckled.  “That does explain the tickle fight that we accidentally overheard last night.”

“You what?” said Corrin.  “Wait, who’s ‘we?’”

She could’ve sworn that the unflappable ninja started to sweat.  “You… might want to have a talk with Silas.  He may have misinterpreted something.”

 

* * *

 

“…so what you heard was actually us playing chess, silly!  And he was beating me, so I started tickling him as a distraction and then I accidentally knocked over the board.  We really do just want to be brother and sister, as much as we’re capable of.”

Silas nodded at his best friend’s explanation, though he was still a bit pink in the face.  “That… does make more sense.”

Corrin laughed.  “Why?  What on earth did you think was going on?”

The color in his face spiked again.  “N-nothing!”

She thought for a second—then her face flushed a hue to rival her eyes.  “Heyyy!”

 

* * *

 

“…so really, things can be just like old times,” Corrin said with a smile.  “Sure, we’ll have to be married in public, but when we’re by ourselves, we’ll both just be your siblings again.  It’ll be nice.”

Camilla returned her smile, but Corrin could’ve sworn that the glint in her eye was a little more conflicted.

 

* * *

 

“…so I don’t know how to feel,” Camilla told Niles after they put their daughter to bed for the night.

“Why not?” he asked.  “It’s all you could talk about—how eager you were for the three of you to be a family again.”

“Yes,” said Camilla, “but…  I don’t know, Niles.  Part of me hoped that they would have a happy ending.  They would…”

“Fall in love?” Niles asked.  At first, he looked skeptical, but as he stopped and thought a minute, the line of his mouth shifted.  “Hmmm.  I can see how she might suit him.  Already, he seems lighter lately than he has been.  I have to say, I’m a little surprised to learn that all they’ve been doing behind closed doors is working.”

“They _would_ have adorable children,” Camilla pointed out.

His face softened at the thought, and his wife found herself smiling.  Despite the front that he put up around people at first, Niles cared so deeply for the people that he did let into his heart.  He loved Leo almost as much as she did.  It was one of the things she had first come to appreciate about the man.

“But that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon,” she said with a sigh, “because Corrin is so determined to preserve their sibling relationship, whatever their marital status might be.  And Leo seems fine with it too.”

Niles hesitated for another long moment, lost in thought.  At first, she was worried about his silence—maybe he was upset.  Then, he opened his mouth.  “This is either going to end in heartbreak or really kinky sex,” he said.  “Or both.”

“ _Niles_!”

“What?” he asked with a roguish grin.  “I thought you liked my rough talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this one, except that of course Niles had to say something there. Somebody had to. He's having fun, and so am I. Next chapter will be regular length again, more or less... and back to the serious stuff (fun, fun). Preview: _“You don’t know what this castle was like before you returned to Nohr.”_


	12. Burdened Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“But if you close your eyes,_   
>  _Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?_   
>  _And if you close your eyes,_   
>  _Does it almost feel like you’ve been here before?”_
> 
>  
> 
> —“Pompeii,” Bastille

By the end of spring, Corrin had begun to truly settle into her role as princess consort.  Although memories of the war still tinted her time with Leo and things could never be quite the same as before, now that the whole continent saw them as married… when they were behind closed doors, they had fallen back into a similar pattern to their relationship back when Corrin lived in the Northern Fortress.

Frankly, it was reassuring.  Even when it came to their public life in front of the court, it felt like they were allies now—instead of two people who were trying to hide the fact that they were painfully out of step with each other.

Corrin had begun attending council meetings as part of her efforts to help with Leo’s work.  She had become acquainted with the other council members and was on at least neutral terms with… well, most of them.

Today, Lord Nikos—a veteran dark knight with white hair and a long scar along his cheek—stood up from the table with another of his military suggestions.  “Nohr needs to start building up its army again.  I mean no disrespect, of course—King Leo had done much to repair the damage done to our noble country after the war, and we are all grateful for his efforts—but still, I worry that our military is too weak.”  A few of his fellow knights nodded along.  “What if we had a draft?  In case of another conflict with Hoshido…”

Cold prickled through Corrin’s blood.  Her heart skipped.  On impulse, she rose from the table, her lips pressed tightly together with ire.  But with a glance at Leo, seated next to her, she paused and collected herself.  When she spoke, she kept her voice and words reined in.

“Lord Nikos… your suggestions are appreciated, as always.  But my brother, King Ryoma, is completely devoted to peace and unity between our two countries.  So is the rest of my family, including my older sister, general to the Hoshidan army.  I can say with full confidence that they have no plans for another war.”

Lord Nikos frowned.  He stared at her across the long council table, his dark eyes squinted with both age and suspicion.  “Tell me, then, Your Highness—what of the Hoshidan attacks on the Nohrian people since the war?”

“In the months since my marriage to King Leo, there have been no further incidents,” Corrin said.  “Even before that, the attacks were in no way sanctioned by the Hoshidan royal family.  They were deeply troubled by the incidents, and they looked into them in an effort to put a stop to them.”  She raised her eyebrows but kept her expression calm.  “It seems they were successful, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well spoken, princess!” Lord Demetrius said with a wink that she pointedly ignored.

Nikos sunk back down into his chair with a scowl.  “I’m very grateful for that, yes.  But Nohr’s military power is one of our finest assets, and—”

“Lord Nikos?”  Leo didn’t stand up as he spoke, but then again, he didn’t need to.  His voice made the rest of the room fall silent.  “You pose an important argument, and I’ll make sure to give it the proper consideration.  But for now, I believe we should move on to the next topic.”

As soon as the meeting concluded, Lord Nikos slunk out of the room, along with his supporters.  Lord Demetrius lingered for a minute to congratulate Corrin more personally, but Niles chased him off before he could flirt too much.

“He did have a point, though,” Leo’s retainer remarked, once the room emptied and only he, Leo, and Corrin remained.  “You handled yourself very well.”

“Thank you, Niles,” she said.  “That means a lot.”  She glanced across the room at the chair that Lord Nikos had occupied.  “I just wish the council liked me.”

“Some of the council members do like you,” said Leo as he rose from his seat.  “The others…  Well, some people are too swayed by biases to change their opinions overnight.  Some will come to appreciate you, and some won’t.”

Corrin shot him a wry look.  “Wow, thanks.”

“What milord means to say,” said Niles, “is that he’s one of those people who’s come to appreciate you.”

Leo shrugged.  “Of course I do.  Your time in Castle Shirasagi gives me a valuable new angle of insight.”

“That’s not very…”  Niles smiled wearily.  “All right, milord.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Corrin awoke to Aleta’s rapping at her outer door.  The maid swept into the room with a letter in hand.  Corrin was unimpressed, ready to return to sleep, until she noticed that, on the letter, was a circle of unbroken wax stamped with Ryoma’s royal seal.

She sat up in bed, blankets tumbling from her shoulders.  “It’s from my big brother!  Thank you, Aleta.”

But her spirits plummeted as she read the letter.

 

_“I regret that I have to tell you this, but there was another attempt at an attack—this time, on Castle Shirasagi itself.  The attackers were Nohrian and quite possibly military.  Saizo managed to take one of the men alive, but he refused to yield any information about his superiors or further plans.  The moment that we left him alone to discuss other means of getting information from him, the man took his own life with the aid of a pill that he’d kept well-concealed on his person during the interrogation._

_Thankfully, there were no fatalities on our side, and very few injuries.  However, this is still cause for grave concern.  Be on your guard, my sister, and keep your retainers close.  Keep your eyes open for anything of suspicion, and if you do see anything that troubles you, report it to me.”_

 

Corrin stared down at the letter, frozen.  It wasn’t over.  It wasn’t over at all.

“Lady Corrin?”  Aleta peered down at her, her forehead drawn with worry.  “Is everything okay?”

She shook her head.  It took a moment before she remembered how to speak.  “Why?  Wh-why can’t we just have peace?  After everything…”

Aleta exhaled, a soft, shaky sound, as she deduced the contents of Ryoma’s letter.  “Do you want me to get your retainers, milady?”

Corrin nodded.  “Please.”

The maid returned ten minutes later, with Jakob and Kaze in tow.  As Corrin told them about the attack on her family’s castle, Kaze’s face went pale.  “Gods…  Is everyone all right?”

“They’re fine,” Corrin said.  She was standing now; she’d dressed while Aleta was gone.  Somehow, reassuring someone else about all of this made her voice feel a little stronger, even if her nerves were still a mess of knots, tangled and fraying under her skin.  “None of our people were killed, and there weren’t a lot of injuries, either.  Ryoma would have told me if any of our families were among those who were hurt.”

“All the same,” said Jakob, frowning, “this is very concerning.  I was sure that, after the example set by you, Lady Corrin, these incidents would finally stop.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

If a marriage union between Hoshido and Nohr hadn’t been able to end the conflicts… what was the point of anything that she’d done?  If her actions had changed nothing, why was she here?  _I should be with them, in Castle Shirasagi.  There, I could at least protect them if the attackers try again…._

“Lady Kamui.”  Kaze met her eyes and shook his head.  “None of this was pointless.  Many months passed by without a single incident between Hoshido and Nohr.  Even in light of this news, I know you managed to make a difference.”

“That’s right, milady,” said Jakob.  “Don’t lose heart.  You’ve certainly made a difference within these walls.”

Aleta took a step forward.  As she had gotten wrapped up in sharing the letter’s dark news, Corrin had almost forgotten that the girl was still here.

“Lady Corrin,” she said gently, “you don’t know what this castle was like before you returned to Nohr.  After the war… it became a really quiet, somber place.  Lady Camilla didn’t smile the way she does now.  And King Leo…”  She averted her eyes to the floor.  “We hardly saw him without a heap of paperwork in his hands, milady.  Honestly, I was beginning to fear for his health.”

Corrin remembered the dark circles beneath Leo’s eyes when she had first come to Windmire months ago.  The thought of him pushing himself so hard all this time—since a time when he could barely even be classified as an adult—it made her chest ache. 

“Since you came,” said Aleta, “his burdens have been lightened a lot.  If nothing else, you’ve brought peace to him and to his sister.  Princess Elise… would be proud of you, I think.”

Corrin’s eyes prickled.  “Thank you, Aleta.”  She resolved that she wouldn’t regret her choice to come here.  Even if all that she had managed to do here was bring back Camilla’s smile and ease the weight on Leo’s shoulders—it was worth it.

Now, she just had to figure out what to do.

 

* * *

 

The color drained from Leo’s face as she told him what happened.  He shut his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose as silence fell throughout his chambers.  Finally, he opened his eyes again.  They looked almost colorless to Corrin as he stood beside the window, a backdrop of dark clouds that tinted the sky gray even at midday.

“You want to be with them right now, don’t you?” he asked.  “Your family.”

The breath left Corrin’s lungs.  “I…”  _I do.  So, so much._   “I’m their sister.  Of course I would want to comfort them.”

But she steeled herself, straightening her back so the world couldn’t see how small the news from Hoshido made her feel.  She curled her fingers into fists so the metal of her ring pinched her skin.  She took the pieces of her hope that Ryoma’s letter had shattered, and she forced them back together again.  Not with gold, but with molten resolve.

“But I can’t go rushing back to Shirasagi without warning,” she said firmly.  “How would that look to your people?  It isn’t feasible.”

Leo opened his mouth to speak, then fell silent again.  He knew she was right.

“I’m the princess consort of Nohr,” she said, gazing over his shoulder at the sky outside his window.  More storm clouds had gathered since she entered the room.  She’d always been a bit skeptical of fortune-telling, but even so, Corrin couldn’t help but take this as a bad omen.  Even so, she held her voice strong.  “My place is here in Windmire.  So I will do what I can from here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as usual for your patience! I just got done with a lot of consecutive work days, but now I get a four-day weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to draft another chapter or two of IPRA at some point, but even if not, here's an update for you! Hope you enjoyed.
> 
> A fun fact about my naming choices, since there's a few OCs in this fic: I'm a big nerd who spends way too long researching names for characters. "Aleta" = "truthful." "Demetrius" is derived from Demeter, as another reference to Petals and Pomegranates because I physically cannot help myself. And "Nikos" means "victory of the people."
> 
> Next chapter's preview: _"Were you in love with her?"_ It's gonna be a conversation-heavy chapter, which I like writing. Hopefully you'll like it too?


	13. A Melody of Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Life is not just filled with happiness,_   
>  _Nor sorrow._   
>  _Even the thorn in your heart—_   
>  _In time, it may become a rose.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> —“Lost in Thoughts All Alone,” Rena Strober

His sleep was plagued by restless dreams, the likes of which he’d been free from for the past several months.  When he woke, his eyelids felt heavier than they had before he’d fallen asleep.  His limbs were sore from tossing and turning.

Leo felt like he’d failed.  Even if he knew nothing of this attack on Castle Shirasagi, King Ryoma had told Corrin that the attackers had seemed military.  If they were, that was infinitely troubling.  What kind of king was Leo, if he was so out of touch with the actions of his own soldiers?

And even if they weren’t military…  They were still Nohrians, bent on shattering this hard-won peace.

As the storm clouds outside his window broke, Leo dressed and settled his father’s crown in his hair and made his way down the corridor to his retainer’s quarters.  He knocked and then waited, as rain drummed impatient rhythms on the roof above his head.

The door burst open, and a lavender blur barreled into Leo’s knees.  “Uncle Leo, Uncle Leooo!”  Even as he blinked and recognized Nina clinging to his shins, Leo couldn’t slow his heartrate.  Damn it… he really was a mess when he didn’t get his full eight hours.

Niles appeared in the doorway behind his daughter.  With a chuckle, he pried her off his liege’s legs and scooped the now-pouting Nina into his arms.  “Lord Leo.  It’s strange for you to darken my door so early.”

“Remember the news that Corrin got yesterday?”  When Niles nodded, Leo continued, “I want you to see if you can dig up any information on the incident, using your… connections.”

“Of course.  Anything to help.”

“Anyting to help!” Nina cheered.

Niles smiled and tousled her hair.  “You can help too, Nina.  Your friend Shigure and his father are going to the gardens this morning.  Why don’t you go with them and then report back to Daddy?  That would be a big help.”

Nina bobbed her head.  Niles set her down on her feet, and she darted off into the family’s chambers, presumably to tell Camilla about her “mission.”  Her father chuckled fondly as he watched her go.  His eye was bright.

“She’s a good girl,” said Leo.

Niles nodded.  “She takes after her mother.”

“She _is_ fond of clinging hugs,” Leo admitted.  “But I see a bit of you in her too, Niles.”

“Not too much, I hope.”  His retainer sighed.  “I don’t ever want her to have to do the things I did.  I want Nina’s path to be clear and bright, and…”

“Full of flower gardens?” Leo asked.  “You do realize that you just directed your daughter to crash what I’m fairly sure was meant to be a father-son day.”

“Oh, I realize.”  Mischief glinted in Niles’s eye.  He’d definitely passed that glint on to his daughter.  “But Shigure won’t mind at all, and Kaze…  Well, he seems so calm all the time.  That’s why it’s so enjoyable to rattle him.”

“Niles, that’s terrible.”

“Oh, come on, I’m not being too cruel.  It’s not like I’m inflicting a terrible punishment on him.  Nina is a delight.”

“You’re right.”  Leo smiled faintly.  “You’re a good father.”

“Am I?”  Niles donned that familiar, unfazed smirk, but beneath it, Leo could see that he was touched.  The sound of laughter echoed through the room behind him—Nina had clearly tracked down Camilla—and his smirk shifted into a genuine smile.

“Without a doubt,” said Leo.

“You’ll make a good father too, milord.”

He tensed.  His pulse sped up again.  Niles had targeted a subject that Leo did not want to think about—for multiple reasons.  He searched for a way to sidestep the topic.

“We’ve discussed this, Niles—you don’t have to call me ‘milord’ when we’re alone,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back.  “I’m your brother-in-law.  You can just call me by my name.”

“I know,” said Niles.  “It’s just hard to adjust to.  But you know, mi—Leo…”  His eye narrowed.  “You can’t push this aside forever.”

Leo exhaled.  “Shouldn’t you be going to the underground already?”

Niles snickered.  “Sure thing.”

* * *

After Niles departed the castle, Leo instinctively headed for the library.  At this time of the morning, it was usually deserted.  The quiet would clear his mind.  As he passed through the corridor, he heard tentative piano music leaking through a closed door.  His footsteps faltered.

This was the door to the old music room, where the royal siblings had taken their childhood lessons, but no one entered it any longer.  It had fallen into disuse after the war, since Camilla and Elise had been the only ones who still used it before.  And Camilla stopped playing the cello once she could no longer duet with Elise’s violin.

Leo knocked, and the song trailed off.  “C-come in?”  The voice was Corrin’s.

He slipped inside the music room.  Everything still looked the same as in his memories, as if nothing had been moved even once since he stopped coming here.  The only indication that anyone had recently set foot in here before today was the fact that none of the abandoned instruments were dusty.  Corrin sat in front of the corner piano, her fingers hovering motionless above the keys as she watched him enter.

Leo stepped up beside her.  “I didn’t know you still played.”

Corrin glanced back down at the keys.  “I fell out of practice when I was in Hoshido.  There were so many things for me to learn there, or things I needed to catch up on—so I’m not very good now.  But I still enjoy it.”

He gestured to the bench where she sat.  It was easily long enough for two people, maybe three.  “May I?”

She nodded.  As he sat down beside her, she started to play again.  Her fingers were hesitant, and she winced when she stumbled.  She was obviously trying to play a song from memory, but Leo didn’t recognize the notes from any of his childhood lessons.  He listened in silence as she pressed on.

Slowly, after many repetitions, a melody took shape: beautiful, mournful, bursting with longing.  Leo was certain now that he had never heard it before, yet he was completely at the song’s mercy.  As Corrin continued to play, her strokes gaining self-assurance, he found himself gazing at Elise’s orphaned violin, and tears prickled in his eyes.

He furtively wiped them away as the song concluded.  Corrin leaned back, her fingers lingering on the keys, and breathed a sigh.  Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling above.

“That was a beautiful song,” Leo said.  Somehow, it seemed like a crime to raise his voice any louder than a whisper.  “Where did you learn it?”

Corrin’s eyes widened as she turned to him.  Like she’d completely forgotten his presence when she played.  Her voice faltered.  “It…  It was Azura’s.”

“I see.”

“She used to live here when she was young,” she started.  “When Fa… when King Garon kidnapped me, Azura was taken by Hoshido as retribution.  But despite how it started… she was happy there.”

Absently, her fingers whispered the opening notes against the piano keys.  This time, Leo’s gaze was drawn not to Elise’s violin, but to Corrin’s face.  Beautiful, mournful, bursting with longing.  The emotion was packed into every note she played.

“When I met her,” Corrin whispered, “she was standing by the water—singing this song.  Her voice was so magical that I couldn’t remember how to move.”  She laughed wryly.  “It was strange.  She had every reason to hate me, and yet she never did.  Her past should have made her cautious, but she welcomed me so warmly.  When I stumbled… she kept me strong.”

“Were you in love with her?”

Corrin stiffened, and Leo chided himself.  He hadn’t meant to ask the question out loud.

The melody broke off.  “I-I…  Why would you…?”  She dragged a hand through her loose hair, evading his eyes.

“Corrin.”  He settled his hand softly between her shoulderblades.  “It doesn’t actually matter to me one way or another.  I thought I’d made it clear that I’ve never expected a monopoly on your heart.”  _Or even a piece of it._

“Yeah, but…”  Her eyes still danced around his, vulnerable.  “She was another g…”

Leo chuckled.  “Be reasonable.  Do you think I’d be offended by something like that?  My retainer is _Niles_.”

“Good point.”  Her giggles trailed off into silence.  Pink dusted her cheeks.  “All right… I was enraptured by her.  How… how could I not be?  She was so…”  She cleared her throat.  “I mean—my feelings might have gone beyond friendship.  But it didn’t matter one way or another, when she was getting married.”

“Oh.”  Leo’s thoughts turned to Kaze and Shigure—alone without the boy’s mother.  And he thought of the way Corrin leaned on her retainer for support and treated him as if he was family.  The way her face brightened into a smile whenever Shigure talked to her.  It would have been so easy, in light of this, for her to hate them both.  It would have been so easy for the dark resentments in her heart to overtake her loving light.

_But then… if her heart wasn’t so open, she wouldn’t be Corrin, would she?_

“Can—can we talk about something else?”  Corrin’s eyes darted across the piano keys.

Leo found himself smiling and quickly rendered his face blank.  “Well… are there words to the song?”

She opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated.  The color bled out of her face.  “N-no.  There are no words.”

He knew she was lying, but he decided not to press the issue.  He’d pried enough honesty out of her already.  Silence shadowed the room as he thought about the deaths that haunted them.  Azura’s song and the family she’d left behind.  The sweet sound of Elise’s violin.  The crown that should have been Xander’s.  The sight of Corrin sobbing over two rose-covered graves at the onset of winter.

“Do you still remember how to play the piano?” Corrin asked gingerly.

Leo startled from his thoughts.  “I lost my touch long ago.”  He grimaced.  “Or rather, I never had it.”

“You weren’t that bad,” she said.

He had definitely been “that bad.”  Leo had tried to learn piano as a child—young enough that he hadn’t even been introduced to Corrin yet—but he hadn’t been gifted at music, the way he was gifted in regard to his other studies.  He was so accustomed to being clever that simply being mediocre at this felt like a death sentence.  And then, when Corrin entered the picture…

“Compared to you, I was,” he said.  “You took to it naturally.”

She ducked her head, pleased but clearly not wanting to show it.  It was that disbelieving modesty that had made him resent her even more back then.  Her modesty, in harmony with her slender fingers that made vibrant melodies blossom across the black and white keys.  Leo’s music had just sounded monochrome.

“You were talented in so many other areas, though.”

“But not that one.”  He rolled his eyes.  “I envied you so much because of that—it was honestly embarrassing.”

“I practiced a lot when you four weren’t around,” said Corrin.  “And even then, it was mostly out of boredom.  All right, and because Camilla praised me so much the first time I finished a simple song.  It made me really happy.”

Leo didn’t miss the sheepish little grin that flitted across her lips.  He wanted to laugh.  “Don’t tell me…” he started.

Corrin flushed.  “I was, like, nine years old!  And I didn’t exactly know a lot of people.  I was kept in that fortress all the time, so i-it was only natural that I’d…!”

He found himself exhaling.  He didn’t even remember holding his breath.  Maybe in a way, he’d been holding that breath for years.  Why, exactly, he couldn’t pinpoint.

Corrin was still pouting at him, her cheeks puffed and scarlet.  “Don’t you dare tease me, or else… I-I will not hesitate to tickle-attack you.”

Leo automatically scooted to the far side of the bench, farther from Corrin’s dangerous hands.  “It’s not that!” he said hastily.  This room was meant for music, not an awful cacophony of tickle-induced agony.  “Honestly, that sort of thing was kind of a rite of passage.”

“Wait, what?”

The room dropped into silence as he realized his error.  Corrin might not have been entirely alone in her redness any longer.

He turned his face away, dusting an invisible nothing off his shoulder.  “We were… a little isolated when we were younger too.  Not to your degree, but we didn’t know many other children.  And… she was kind of the only girl remotely close to my age that I actually knew well enough.”

She had been protective of him, affectionate, when his mother never was.  Leo had been a moth.  Camilla was the first candlelight he’d ever glimpsed.  He didn’t fault himself for that.  (Too much.  Anymore.)

A cackle exploded from Corrin’s mouth before she covered it with her hands.  “Oh my gods, Leo!  Did she know about it?”

“She’s Camilla,” he said icily.  “I don’t doubt it.”

Tears beaded in the corners of her eyes from the force of her laughter.

Leo glared.  “That means she knew all about your little childhood crush, too.”

Corrin’s laughter died.  “Oh gods.  I can never look her in the eye again.”

“On the bright side,” he said, “to my knowledge, she’s never spoken a word about it to Niles.  If that happened, we’d _never_ hear the end of it.”

She smiled mournfully, but her eyes were as bright as flames.  Her gaze interlaced with his.  In that moment, in the abandoned hollowness of the music room, it felt like he shared a piece of her soul.  A fractured piece, maybe, but it still filled him with golden warmth.

“You don’t have to be good at the piano, you know,” Corrin said softly.  “You could just play for fun.”

“I don’t find things to be fun if I’m not good at them,” he admitted.  “It’s one of those ‘gifted child’ side effects.”

“Come on, just this one time,” she said.  She widened her eyes, made them flutter like butterfly wings against a breeze.  “Please, for me?”

Leo frowned.  He hated how assured she sounded, like she just knew that approach would work.  He hated even more the fact that she wasn’t wrong.  Brotherly love—decimating his reason again.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “but just this once.”

He tiptoed through the opening bars of a rudimentary song he remembered from his childhood lessons.  He played slowly, intently.  The moment his finger stumbled, he stopped.

“There,” he said.  “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” she answered, and strangely enough, she looked like she meant it.  Her lips had blossomed into a smile.  “Thank you for indulging me like this.”

He glanced away because her smile was too bright.  “Isn’t that my job?”

She laughed lightly.  “Maybe.  I still appreciate it, Leo.”

Warmth still crackled in his cheeks from his mistake at the piano, and he disdained himself for it.  “I was on my way to the library before,” he said, rising from the bench.  “I should probably get going.”

“I could come with you if you want,” she said.

Leo shook his head.  “I was hoping to be alone with my thoughts.”

Corrin didn’t answer until his hand was on the doorknob.  “All right,” she said quietly.  “Just… don’t get lost there.”

As he stepped out into the corridor, he heard the opening notes of that mournful melody brush against his ears again.  Even as he sat down in the library, it haunted the insides of his skull with every page he turned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot of fun for me to work on... even if the main takeaway is just "everybody is a total disaster, someone save them." Wait, no, that's just the main theme of this story, period. (Except baby Nina who is not a disaster, she's just pure and cute. In this AU, I like to think the problematic bit of her Fates characterization will never happen, tbh.)
> 
> I played the keyboard briefly when I was growing up, and I still have it, but I don't think I've touched it in years. I was never great at it anyway. (As Leo said, one of those "gifted child" side effects.) So if any of my information is grossly inaccurate, forgive me! Also, although we can surmise all of the Nohr sibs (+ Corrin?) took music lessons at some point, I don't think it was ever mentioned what either Camilla or Leo would've played? So I just kind of picked what would be fun for this story for Leo, and for Camilla, something that went well with Elise's violin because feels. I'm mean, and don't you forget it.
> 
> Thank you for reading. I know it's been a while, so I always appreciate your patience with me. (My workplace continues to be drastically understaffed, and my schedule is constantly changing at the last minute. And I don't do well with change, so when I do get time off, I'm often just recharging.) Next chapter preview: _"She hated that her first instinct was suspicion."_


	14. Blinding Blossoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Within this world, if you wish to live another day,_   
>  _You must disguise as a flower that will captivate._   
>  _You, I want to believe—_   
>  _But I cannot believe.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> —“Here,” English cover by AmaLee
> 
> (I finally got to use the IPRA theme again, yay!)

June came, muggy and gray.  The condensation made strands of Corrin’s hair fly away when Aleta tied it back, and made it puff up uncontrollably when she wore it loose.  It caused her to look like she was in a constant state of distress.

To be fair—she was.

Another attack.  To herald the summer, there was another incident on the border between Nohr and Hoshido.  Twenty-eight casualties, fifteen fatalities.  The numbers rang in her ears when she begged sleep to claim her at night.  They didn’t stop.  _It_ didn’t stop.

Why didn’t people want peace?  Even when she had bloodied her hands nearly four years ago, it had been with the goal of ending the conflict.  Why would people want to begin it anew?  Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone to love each other, or at least tolerate each other’s existence instead of constantly striking tindertwigs together in the hopes of sparking another war?

That was a naïve question, and she knew it.  Some people, like King Garon, were fundamentally toxic to peace.  Their ideologies were a threat that had to be addressed.  But… it hurt, thinking of things in infinite shades of gray when, back in her tower, she’d only seen the world in rose hues.

Unable to sleep peacefully, Corrin paced the corridors in the early morning hours, with Kaze shadowing her steps.  He hadn’t slept well of late, either.  Worry for his liege, for his son, and for both the countries they’d called home kept him awake.

Corrin rounded a corner of the hallway and stopped still, ducking behind it again.  Kaze stopped silently behind her.  _What did you see?_ his eyes asked.

Her hands felt cold.  She peered around the corner, subtly as she could manage, and spotted a scowling Leo whispering something in his retainer’s ear.  Niles nodded and slunk away down the hallway, dressed in commoner’s garb.  Nondescript.  Forgettable.  Perfectly suited for unsavory activity in the dark.  Corrin’s pulse pounded in her ears.

She hated that her first instinct was suspicion.

 _Damn it all….  I didn’t used to be like this!_ During the war, Ryoma had told her that her trusting nature was her greatest strength, in addition to her weakness.  But… it _had_ been a weakness.  A grave one.  Innocent people had died because of Corrin’s misplaced trust.

If she misplaced it again, more innocents could lose their lives.

“Kaze,” she whispered once they were out of earshot, “can you do me a favor?”

“Of course, milady,” he answered.

Corrin exhaled, and her lungs felt quivery.  Pierced through with arrows.  “I hate to ask this of you… but could you follow Niles?  Just for my own peace of mind.  Not—not that I really believe he’d…”

She stopped, the words not coming.  Part of her—a fractured part of her, for a fragment of a second—did believe it.  She hated that part of herself, the calloused part that could doubt her own brother and his retainer… but she couldn’t quite deny it.

“I’ll watch over Shigure for you while you’re gone,” she finished instead.  “I-it’ll be fun.”

Kaze nodded.  “You can count on me.”

 

* * *

 

The garden was too bright against the muted skies.  The flowers’ petals were too vivid, enough to make Corrin’s bleary eyes flinch as she followed Shigure onto the grounds.  Against Windmire’s clouds, such beauty didn’t seem honest.

She didn’t have much experience watching children alone, but that issue quickly became moot, as Camilla spotted them from her window and brought Nina outside to play.  Nina and Shigure giggled and shrieked and chased each other around the garden, playing sky knights or pirates or… honestly, Corrin lost track.  It was astounding how swiftly the whims of children could shift.

Camilla watched them with a chuckle on her lips as she sat beside Corrin on the ornate iron bench.  Her eye shone, even in the dull light outside Castle Krakenburg.  Corrin had always known that her older sister would make an excellent mother, a passionate and doting defender with an infinite wellspring of love.  She was glad that Camilla had Nina now, in the wake of her losses.  Corrin had been so happy when the news finally reached Shirasagi.

(She’d been so happy that tears had filled her eyes, stinging like salt as they seeped into the crevice between her lips.  Corrin hadn’t dared then to imagine herself sitting here with Camilla and Nina like this.  She hadn’t dared to imagine she could ever deserve it.)

“Leo’s birthday is coming up,” Camilla said offhandedly, stirring Corrin from her half-recalled memories.  “I’m organizing a banquet to celebrate.”

“Oh?” Corrin asked.  Her mind flashed back to her coronation ceremony and the feast that followed—Lord Demetrius’s suggestions, the glowers of Lord Nikos and his friends, the teary-eyed woman who had expressed her hopes for a bright future between Nohr and Hoshido that hadn’t come to fruition.

“He deserves to be celebrated after all his hard work,” said Camilla.  “I know that I don’t say it often enough, because I don’t want to embarrass the poor dear _too_ much, but…”  Her gaze drifted over to her daughter playing amidst the lilies.  “He’s given so much of himself to the people, these past few years.  And so help me, I’ll make sure that he’s acknowledged for it.”

Corrin’s heart sank as she remembered the furtive conversation she had witnessed between Leo and Niles.  She wanted to believe—and she mostly did, she insisted to herself—that it was nothing.  But there was that tiny broken sliver of doubt inside her chest, its edges sharp and piercing.

“That’s so sweet, Camilla,” she said and tried to look like she meant it with the entirety of her heart.  “What are we going to do at this banquet?”

Camilla’s smile brightened.  “There’s going to be plenty of feasting, of course.  And music.  Dancing.  Ooh, I’ve always wanted you to experience a proper Nohrian ballroom dance, in a proper ballroom….”

“Leo won’t participate in anything like that, will he?” Corrin pointed out.

She sighed wearily.  “He’ll do his best to avoid it.  But even if this is his celebration, it’s meant to lighten the hearts of all the people.  And most of the court does enjoy a good evening of dancing.”

Corrin pressed her lips together in a thin smile.  She had learned the basic steps, the barest bones of ballroom dances from Camilla and Elise back in the Northern Fortress, but that had been years ago.  Part of another life, an intact one.  If she tried to dance now, she was bound to be clumsy.

Camilla shook her head.  “Twenty-two,” she sighed under her breath.  “Somehow, he seems both so much younger and infinitely older.”

Corrin didn’t know how to respond to that—knowing that some of that “infinitely older” part was undeniably her fault—so she didn’t try.

Camilla’s eyes followed her daughter and Shigure around the garden.  Nina was chasing her friend with her stubby arms extended like majestic wings, making _whoosh_ ing noises with her mouth as Shigure laughed and fled.  He was more than a year older than Nina, which still meant a lot at their ages, and Corrin noticed how he would occasionally slow his pace a little so Nina could keep up.

“He’s a cute little boy, isn’t he?” Camilla said.  “I was surprised to see him out here with you, though.  Wouldn’t he normally be with his father?  Or maybe even Silas.”

“I volunteered to watch him.”  Corrin fixed her restless gaze on her fingers, motionless and interlaced in her lap.  “Kaze is running an errand for me.”

Camilla hummed thoughtfully.  “You two are quite close,” she said.  Her tone was nothing but casual, and yet Corrin detected its undertone immediately.  “It’s nothing improper, is it, darling?”

“What?  Of course not!”  She flushed at the idea—not because Camilla’s suspicion was true, but because it was so far from it that it hadn’t really occurred to her.  “Kaze is like family to me.”

Camilla’s eyebrow arched.  “‘Family’ is an interesting word choice, coming from you.”

Corrin tensed, her heart spring-boarding into her windpipe.  Even though the sky was murky, it still felt too hot out.  “Camilla…  I-I’m so sorry…”

“What?  Corrin, dear, _no_.”  Camilla’s hand alighted over hers.  “I only meant because of who your husband is, how you grew up here—I wasn’t…”  She sighed.  “There are things that I’m not prepared to talk about.  But… know that I hold nothing against you.  I never could.”

She squeezed her older sister’s hand.  “Thank you.”

Camilla laughed.  “I was just making sure that there wasn’t anything off-color going on, that is all—you _are_ my brother’s wife.  Though it was silly of me to worry.  After all, you and he haven’t even—”

Corrin blanched.  Her eyes darted around the castle grounds, seeking some distraction, and her gaze settled on a familiar knight ambling toward the garden.  Stiffly, she stood up from the bench.  “Silas!  G-good morning!”

Silas looked bewildered at the shrill loudness of her tone, but he returned the greeting with a smile.  As he approached, Shigure scampered up to him with Nina at his heels.

“Mister Silas,” he panted, “we’re being sky knights.  You wanna play with us?”

Silas’s eyes widened.  “Sure!”  Corrin had seen him being roped into Kaze’s son’s games of pretend several times before, but he always looked so surprised, flattered that he’d been chosen for something so important.  It was endearing, like a puppy being praised.

Camilla’s maternal smile was back as she watched her daughter and Shigure scampering through the garden with Silas in tow.  “I’m glad some things never change,” she murmured.

“What was that?” Corrin asked.

“Nothing, darling.”

“Okay, now you be the pegasus!”  Shigure’s golden eyes were bright as he persuaded Silas (could it really count as persuasion if he just said it, and the knight went along with it immediately?) to give him a boost onto his shoulders.

“It’s strange, though,” Camilla mused.  “I remember when you and Silas were little children—not as young as Nina and Shigure are now, but still—and now…”

Nina scurried over to the bench, clinging to her mother’s arm and chattering excitedly as Camilla patted her hair.  Silas watched Camilla’s face curiously, waiting for the end of her statement.

“And now… we’re all old enough to be parents ourselves,” she finished.  She chuckled.  “It _is_ nice to see Nina playing with other children….”

Corrin froze.  The twinkle in Camilla’s eye and the flowers were too bright, stark against the numbing gray of the clouds.  Her heartbeat shivered.

A crooked grin was fixed on Silas’s face.  “No, no, I’m good,” he said.  “Honestly, I think Shigure’s enough for me.”

Camilla laughed.  “Saying it like that, it sounds like he’s your son.”

On Silas’s shoulders, Shigure cocked his head with a frown.  “But… _Father_ is my father.”

Silas stilled.  In the weak gray light, it was hard to make out, but Corrin thought the hue of his face was a little unusual.  “Th-that’s not it, Lady Camilla!  I—I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I know,” said Camilla with a smirk.  “But you should have seen the expression on your face.”

Thankfully, neither of them noticed how quiet Corrin had gotten.

 

* * *

 

By the time she was able to converse with Kaze in private, night had fallen.  The blackness outside Corrin’s window, in contrast with her candlelight, cast shadows across the planes of her retainer’s face, making his already calm expression even more difficult to read.

“What did you see?” she asked him.  She meant, _Please tell me that I was just being hasty and paranoid._

Kaze hesitated, only for a piece of a second, but that already told her too much.  “Milady,” he said evenly, “it’s nothing conclusive, but…”

“Tell me the truth,” she said.  _Tell me that I’m wrong, even if you’re lying._

“I wasn’t able to hear much of what Niles was saying, but he was going around talking to people in the suspicious parts of the underground.  I couldn’t get too close, but I know I heard him mention the border attack.  More than once.”  Kaze bowed his head.  “Then, I lost his trail.  I’m sorry.”

Corrin caught her breath.  “I-it’s all right.  You did well.”

She still didn’t want to believe it.  Not only because the idea that Leo and Niles could be behind the attack on her family was horrifying, but also because it didn’t make any sense.  She had seen how hard Leo worked for the people of Nohr.  How heavy the toll that the war had taken on him and Camilla.

It didn’t make _any_ sense for him to sabotage himself like that.

Corrin wanted to be that same trusting girl she used to be, when she sat up in her tower and gazed at the world outside her window and dreamed that all its people were beautiful and kind.  But she reminded herself what Leo had told her after her coronation.  _“The nobility you’ve read about doesn’t usually align with the nobility that actually exists.”_

She wanted to believe in him, but in light of what Kaze had witnessed, Corrin had to accept that it was a possibility.

She met Kaze’s eyes.  “Tomorrow, if he goes out again, I want you to follow him again.  It’s probably nothing, but… just in case it isn’t nothing.”

Kaze nodded.  He didn’t comment on the unmasked fear in her eyes or ask where her blind trust had gone.  He knew where it had gone.  He’d watched them bury it.  “I’ll do my best, milady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the Leo's birthday arc! (I saw "arc" as if it's more than a few chapters' worth of stuff, but still.) Its climax is one of my favorite parts of this fic so far, so I'm excited to get to show it to you soon!
> 
> Well... soon-ish. I know I'm always apologizing for taking so long with new chapters, but... yeah, we're still understaffed at work, and I got slapped in the face by burnout (again) in December. I'm still kinda recovering from it, or trying to, anyway. (It's hard when the internet just suggests "take a few months off, uwu" as if that's something most people can afford to do.) I do have drafts of several upcoming chapters, but I want to make sure they're actually good and polished (shiny~) before I publish them. And I'm slowly eating away at my buffer of drafts since my urge to write was brutally murdered by work. I'm going to try and write at least one more chapter (of the uber-sloppy Draft One) before I post anything else, but that will spur me on to write more!
> 
> Anyway... excuses aside. As always, thank you for reading. I really appreciate the kudos (kudoses? kudosi? those things) and kind words. The next chapter preview is: _"You don't trust me."_ Is it drama time? I'm always a slut for drama.


	15. A Shaken Underpinning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“When did we start to build these walls,_   
>  _And is there any way to storm your gates?_   
>  _Brick by brick, I tried to build a home together,_   
>  _But I’m the one who burned it down.”_
> 
>  
> 
> —“All We Have,” Anberlin

“Corrin.”

She stopped at the mouth of the corridor.  She turned, rubbing her sleepy eyes, to find Leo approaching her with a determined stride.  There was something in his eyes that she hadn’t seen since the Woods of the Forlorn, and it sent ice down her spine.

“Ah, so you already know what this is about,” said Leo as he reached her.  “Would you like to tell me why the hell you’re having your retainer follow Niles around?”

“I…”  She shook her head.  The lie sprang out of her mouth on impulse.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

His eyes narrowed, looking darker than normal in the shadows of the hallway.  “One time, I might have been able to rationalize away, but you’ve done this three times now.”

Corrin was tempted to blurt out her suspicions—to ask him to his face what was going on—but in the event that he _did_ have anything to do with the attacks, a move like that would be suicide.  The odds were in her favor, but she held her tongue.

Leo sighed through his teeth.  “You don’t trust me.”

“That…  That’s not—”

“It is, though.  You’re not a good liar, Corrin, so don’t flatter yourself or insult me by trying.”  He crossed his arms.  “You’re suspicious of Niles, and of me.  Am I wrong?”

“You’re…”  She trailed off.  “I don’t want to be.”

Leo’s face hardened.  “But you are.  If you’ll excuse me…”  He sidestepped her and marched off down the hall.

Corrin’s eyes prickled, but she didn’t cry.  Her anger, her sadness was desert-dry, and somehow that made it hurt worse.  All that her loved ones had given for the sake of peace—Elise, Xander, Azura, all the other lives either forfeited or fragmented—and everything was crumbling again, and her heart didn’t remember how to fill those broken spaces with light.

 

* * *

 

He started avoiding her again after that.  She knocked on his door that evening, ready to explain herself, but he didn’t answer.

She lay awake for half the night, stress and unspoken syllables barring her from sleep.  If Leo didn’t want her to be suspicious, shouldn’t he be open with her about everything that was going on?  Wasn’t that what marriage partners were supposed to do?

But then, did he really have any reason to tell her what was going on?  She couldn’t deny that she hadn’t been entirely loyal to Nohr in the past.  Even though she had taken vows during her coronation, it was hard to forget that she had fought alongside Hoshido against his country.  Maybe he didn’t trust her.  Maybe he suspected that _she_ was behind some of this.

And she could have seen things from his perspective… except for that fact that _I’m supposed to be his sister!  We grew up together.  If he doesn’t know me better than that…!_

Well, that didn’t make her sound like a massive hypocrite at all.

By the time she fell asleep, she wasn’t sure which of them she was angrier with.

The next evening, Corrin heard the sound of writing from the other side of the door and knocked again.  “Leo?  I… I just wanted to talk to you.  If that’s acceptable to you.”

He didn’t answer.  She didn’t try again.

Instead, Corrin busied herself by helping Camilla organize his birthday celebration.  If that went well, maybe it would convince Leo to get over it.  Maybe it was her fault that he was angry, but he didn’t have to be so stubborn.

“Do you know what you’re going to wear?” Camilla asked her.

“Not really, no.  I haven’t put much thought into it.”

“I could let you borrow one of my gowns if you’d like.”

Corrin could think of two very prominent reasons why that wasn’t the best idea.  “Um… that’s a sweet offer, but it would seem strange if I wore something they’ve seen you wearing before to my husband’s birthday banquet.”

Camilla nodded sagely.  “You’re right, darling, you’re completely right.  Hmmm…”  She smiled.  “I know!  I’ll spirit you down to my tailor, get her to take your measurements—I mean, it’s not like I didn’t know your measurements before, but they’re bound to have changed a _bit_ in the past few years—and we can have something new made for you.  It will be stunning!”

There was an edge to that smile, a brightness to Camilla’s eye that made Corrin’s nerves prickle, just the smallest bit.  Her older sister was scheming something.  And honestly, she’d spent enough time playing dress-up with Camilla growing up that she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.

 

* * *

 

After she tucked Nina into bed for the night, Camilla returned to the outer room of their quarters with the tune of her lullaby still on her lips and reclaimed her spot on the loveseat beside Niles.  She stretched her feet out onto his lap, drawing his attention from his thoughts.

“Now that she’s in bed,” he said, leaning closer to whisper, “are you going to tell me what’s made you so worked up?”  He spoke with the ghost of a smirk, but Camilla knew better than to believe that look.

“Things have been awfully chilly lately,” she started.

“It’s the end of June,” said Niles.  He flashed his teeth, creeping his fingers up his wife’s ankles.  “Though I could warm you up, if you’re really so cold….”

“I think Corrin and Leo are fighting.”

His fingers stopped still over her knee.  “Oh,” he said, the smile vanishing.  “Oh… That _would_ explain why he’s been acting so fit to be tied for the past couple days.”

“He hasn’t told you why?” she asked.

“No.”  Niles thought for a moment.  “I told you how he’s sent me out to look into those attacks, and how I spotted Kaze riding my tail again yesterday.  I’d assume their little lovers’ spat has something to do with that.”

“He doesn’t trust her?”

“I think,” he said, “the issue is more that she doesn’t trust him.”

Camilla frowned.  That possibility hadn’t even occurred to her.  “But she’s always been such a trusting little girl….”

“And she went through hell four years ago, along with the rest of us.  You know how that changes people.”

Niles’s finger slipped under the band of his eyepatch, toying with it absently.  He didn’t need to wear it in front of her—Camilla, of all people, would never think him unattractive because of a childhood eye injury—but it was habit for him to wear it, especially now that little Nina was around.  The idea that his daughter might be scared of his uncovered face was too devastating to test out.

“I…”  Camilla bit her lip.  “I know, but… she’s seemed happy here, for the most part.  Could she really…?”

He groaned.  “Don’t even finish.  Lady Corrin loves you—that’s obvious to anybody with one lick of sense.  I’ve seen you two spending time together.  That wasn’t fake happiness on her face.”

“Then why…?” she began.

“She’s just in a mood because of these attacks.  She doesn’t know where they’re coming from, so she’s punishing someone she can actually reach.  And I expect that milord is trying to punish her right back.”  Niles breathed a sigh.  “If only they’d put those urges to more constructive uses.”

“Niles,” Camilla said in a scolding tone, “those are my innocent little siblings you’re talking about.”  She paused.  “Although… it would be nice for Nina to have a few cousins to play with….  Maybe I should talk to them.”

“It will be better for them if they can work this out for themselves.  Gods know, it’s an important skill for a marriage.”  He stroked her knee with calloused fingers.  “But if this hasn’t blown over by the party, I’ll talk to her.”

“Thank you, Niles.  And as for Leo…?”  An idea sparked in her mind, and a smile like a strung bow curled onto her lips.  “I’m meeting with the tailor again tomorrow.  I’ll make sure he can’t stay angry with sweet Corrin for long.”

Niles grinned.  “Don’t go _too_ far now.  Though it would be hilarious, I don’t think your brother wants the whole court to bear witness to his and his wife’s first…”  He cleared his throat, muted by a sharp look from his wife.  “I know, I know—Lord Leo would never.”

“Still,” she said thoughtfully, “I know my little Leo better than he wants to pretend.  And I just want him to be happy, you understand.”

“Of course,” said Niles.

“So really, it’s for his own good if I use his weaknesses to Corrin’s advantage,” said Camilla.  “Right?”

“Of course.  Ooh, you are wicked….”

(Ha.  As if she would have to do much.  As Camilla knew Leo, she also knew Corrin.  And Corrin was made of, aside from seventy percent water, thirty percent of Leo’s weak points.  This was going to be too much fun.)

 

* * *

 

Corrin didn’t even get a glimpse of her own gown until the morning before the banquet, when Camilla and the tailor, a grandmotherly woman named Helene, ushered her into the fitting room.  Even then, she didn’t get a good look at it—just a rush of magenta fabric as Helene urged her to step into it.  Frankly, both the tailor and Camilla looked too excited about this whole thing.

It would have set Corrin on edge, except Corrin was already on edge because Leo hadn’t so much as spoken to her in days, and also because it was morning and mornings were the absolute worst.

She felt Helene draw the zipper up to the small of her back and smooth down the skirts, and then she stepped back to examine her work.  Camilla unleashed a squeal as Corrin finally turned toward a mirror.

“Corrin, you’re radiant!  Ooh, he’s not going to know what hit him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who wants a sneak preview, I posted my friend's art of Corrin's dress here: https://twitter.com/official_livian/status/1097926206941523968 (Sorry, it wasn't wanting to let me hyperlink it. My HTML is rusty.) There's a bit of a funny story attached to that drawing, which I tweeted about in that thread. I was so paranoid while she drew it, and I wasn't even the one sitting by the pastor!
> 
> Speaking of my old church and things that it would hate... I've tweeted about this already and made a post about it on my Tumblr, but I finally came to terms with something pretty big about myself, which is that I'm transgender. Bringing that up in case I happen to refer to myself as "he/him" in future author's notes or something, so I don't confuse anyone. Everyone online has been great about it so far, and I'm so relieved because where I live IRL, almost nobody would be great about it if I told them. (Maybe 2 people know there, and they're both not exactly cis.) You can still call me Livian or Liv and I'm cool with that, though I've also started going by Ian. So call me whichever you want. ...Just a bit of housekeeping there, sorry. :)
> 
> Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and the upcoming chapter is one of my favorites! This mini-arc will finally be resolved... somehow. Preview: _"He was absolutely jealous."_ It's gonna be fun, guys!


	16. Secret Moments in a Crowded Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Well, maybe I'm not perfect. At least I'm working on it._   
>  _22 is, like, the worst idea that I have ever had._   
>  _It's too much pain, it's too much freedom. What should I do with this?_   
>  _It's not the way you plan it, it's how you make it happen._   
>  _Yeah, it’s how you make it happen._   
>  _It's such a cold, cold world (hello, cold world),_   
>  _And I can't get out,_   
>  _So I'll just make the best with everything I'll never have.”_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> —“Hello Cold World,” Paramore
> 
> (It’s Leo’s 22nd birthday; it was either this song or Taylor Swift’s “22.” I don’t know many songs about this specific age and I'm uncreative. Also, chapter title is from Taylor Swift’s “Dress.” Because dat dress, obviously. If you didn't check out the picture I linked in the notes after last chapter, what are you waiting for?)

Leo was late for his own birthday banquet, because he really hadn’t wanted to come.

The moment he stepped into the ballroom, Camilla and Niles rose to usher him to the head of the long dining table.  It was festooned with food and drink, and the ceiling above the adjacent dance floor was garlanded with roses.  Leo had known all about the preparations that Camilla and the servants were making, of course—few things could be kept secret from him in his own castle—but he hadn’t seen their work with his own eyes yet.  They had outdone their efforts from last year, and last year had been a spectacle.

All the same, last year had also been tiresome.  He had tried to persuade Camilla in his first year as king that his ideal birthday party would involve sitting alone in the library with a book or three, but she was adamant that the people “needed to celebrate him.”  Which was a pleasant, flattering idea in theory, but far more exhausting in actuality.

Of course his designated seat trapped him between Corrin and Camilla.  It made sense from a rational standpoint, that the king would be seated between his wife and his closest kin, but the bitterness that had festered in his chest for days didn’t want to be rational.  Corrin’s distrust was a betrayal that he hadn’t expected to hurt so much.  It was darkness, seeping into his bones, corroding the collagen and making his knees feel weak as he folded himself into his seat at the banquet.

He didn’t even look at Corrin, except in his peripheral vision.

 

* * *

 

Corrin still wasn’t looking at Leo, except when she was.

After thinking it over, she had decided that she was angrier with herself for how hard her heart had grown than she was angry with him for his secrets.  Leo was used to working behind the scenes, she reminded herself, from when he was growing up—it was just the way he did things.  And it made sense that he wouldn’t want to discuss with her a subject that gave her night terrors.  But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still a little angry with him.

He had shut her out.  She had only seen him a handful of times over the past week, and he had pointedly ignored her then.  He’d made her feel isolated, in a way she hadn’t since the Northern Fortress.  And she understood why he was upset—but that didn’t mean he had to act like such a child about it.

Although… he didn’t _look_ like a child anymore.  As Camilla made a toast to her brother that went on a few minutes too long, Corrin’s gaze crept over to Leo.  His face was averted so all she could see was his profile, the angles of his face made starker in the glow of the ballroom.  His face had abandoned the roundness of youth years ago, but it hadn’t quite sunk into her mind before, not like this.  Yes, he wore the crown of a king and had for four years now, and he’d always towered over her in maturity, but Corrin wasn’t used to thinking of him as _grown_.

She blamed the fact that it was his birthday for this revelation.  Or maybe the fact that she gave him a surreptitious once-over—from the formal cloak draped over his shoulders, to the almost-black violet of his dress shirt, to his ironed black pants, to his neatly laced boots—and nothing was inside-out or backward or buttoned into the wrong holes.  She bit back a smile as she remembered teasing him about his collar back in the Northern Fortress.

Camilla caught her eye from Leo’s other side.  Her smile was fond but far too knowing.  She was still scheming—trying to force a reconciliation.  And since Nina was in the care of Aleta and some of the other servants for the evening, there was nothing to distract Camilla from her target.

Unfortunately for her, Corrin knew it wasn’t going to work that easily.  Leo was far too clever to be swayed by a pretty dress and a tiny bit of skin.  Especially from someone he’d grown up with as family.

 

* * *

 

Leo sipped his wine to prevent himself from snapping at his sister or his retainer.  They had been slipping him these _looks_ all throughout dinner.  And the way Camilla kept leaning across him to talk to Corrin was nowhere close to subtle.

He wasn’t going to rise to the bait, though.  Camilla was trying to shoehorn herself into this, the way she would have when Leo and Corrin got into their occasional disagreements as children.  She probably didn’t even know what had happened between them.  She was just inserting herself into the conflict on principle, trying to glue everything back together like she was the older sister to both of them again.

Also, Leo had caught a brief glimpse—very brief, out of the most peripheral possible corner of his eye—of the low sweetheart neckline of a livid magenta gown and a faint spray of freckles on a shoulder revealed by an inept sleeve, and that was enough for him to recognize Camilla’s trap.

_Honestly.  It’s like she thinks I’m an idiot._

The banquet ended, and unsurprisingly enough, Lord Demetrius was the first noble onto the dance floor.  Camilla rose from her seat, stepped behind Leo’s chair, and reached for Corrin.

“Come on!” she exclaimed.  “It’s time for you to have your first proper dance.”

Out of instinct, Leo started to turn toward Camilla’s voice, but the flash of leg he glimpsed as Camilla tugged Corrin to her feet quickly dissuaded him.  He jerked his gaze away—in the direction of Niles, who wore a disturbingly wolfish grin.

“Aren’t you going to dance, milord?” he asked.

Leo glanced over at the dance floor.  It was mostly filled with Demetrius and his ilk, and whatever hapless girls they could rope into dancing with them.  Camilla was stepping onto the floor now in her flashy gown, with her hand laced through C—nope, no chance, no way, he wasn’t going to look at her—but nobody else that Leo knew well.  A small orchestra had started up, and their melody was pleasant enough, but nothing that made him want to dance.  To be fair, there was nothing in the world that could make Leo want to dance.

Instead, he fixed his attention on Lord Nikos and a few of the other nobles still seated at the table.  “I’m going to stay here a while.”

“If you’d like,” said Niles.  “But I’m going to join my wife.”

 

* * *

 

After Niles spirited Camilla away across the floor, Corrin found herself faced with a barely familiar young nobleman who wanted to dance.  She glanced around for Leo but found him still seated at the table, where he looked inclined to remain.  Corrin shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her prospective dance partner.

“All right, we can dance.  But forgive me if I’m a little out of practice.”

Soon, Corrin was caught up in an intoxicating whirl of lilting music and perfumes and color, skirts swirling all around her like roses blossoming.  Her partner didn’t mind when she accidentally trod on his foot, and in fact, he just chuckled.  He was an amiable fellow.  His name had slipped from her memory, but she was too embarrassed to ask for a reminder.

After the song concluded, Corrin heard a shard of conversation from the sidelines.

“It’s all right, man.  Just ask her.”

“Are you sure?  She’s the princess consort….”

“Well, yes,” said the first speaker, the milling crowds keeping him out of Corrin’s sights.  “But everybody knows that her marriage with King Leo is purely political, so it’s fine.”

A few moments later, another nobleman asked her to dance.  Pink dusted his cheeks, and Corrin was suddenly quite conscious of the gown that Camilla and the tailor had dressed her in.  Maybe that was why the previous noble had been so kind.

Still… this was Leo’s court.  Corrin’s court, too.  She didn’t want them to think that she was a rude, snobbish princess.  Anyway, what if she was misjudging their intentions and they really did just want to be friendly?  Her younger self had believed in giving others the benefit of the doubt.  Ryoma had told her that her trust could be her strength.

Corrin reached out to take the nobleman’s outstretched hand and was swept up in the whirl of the ballroom once again.  Surrounded by so many people, there was no way she could still feel isolated.

 

* * *

 

Lord Nikos had gone on another one of his militaristic diatribes, and Leo was suddenly—almost—wishing that he’d decided to dance after all.

Camilla and Niles were dancing on the fringes of the cluster, and they were still taking turns giving him significant looks as they rotated across the floor.  The orchestra was playing a waltz now.  Occasionally, he spotted a flare of magenta from the midst of the dancers, but not much more.  Apparently, Corrin was popular with the people.  He wanted to be proud of that.  He also wanted to resent that.

“…and after all these recent attacks, I think it’s just reasonable that…”

Leo found himself tuning Lord Nikos out.  It wasn’t like the man was saying anything new.  Instead, Leo’s gaze drifted aimlessly through the crowds.  Not long now, and he could reasonably claim that it was late and he needed to get to bed.  Not too much longer, and he could escape from this—

— _Holy hell._

By mistake, he’d caught sight of Corrin.  And all right, he would give this to Camilla: maybe she didn’t think that he was an idiot, so much as she thought he had functioning eyes.  Which for the most part, he did, so… good on her, or something.

Not that his brain lingered on Camilla for long.  Without his brain’s approval, his eyes drifted back to Corrin again and again.  That dress.  The neckline was just as bad as his corner-of-the-eye appraisal had suggested, and even though the sleeves were long, they barely hugged her shoulders.  The hemline was…  Well, in some places, the hemline was acceptable.  It was asymmetrical, scalloping down from a point too high on her right thigh until the back of it brushed her calves.  And it did this… this _thing_ when she twirled around the floor with her dance partner that probably wouldn’t have been allowed on a Hoshidan dance floor.

In which case, Hoshido had the right idea.  Leo bit his lip, hard.  Tomorrow morning, he was going to start drafting a law that would make Corrin wearing that dress totally illegal.

“…isn’t that right, King Leo?”

He turned back to Lord Nikos.  He tried to hide that he was startled, but it was difficult when he’d almost drawn blood from his lower lip.

 _Damn it_ …  He was better than this.  He wasn’t like Niles, whose attention had been easily captured by pretty things before he married Camilla.  Leo could count on one hand how many times he had actually been attracted to another person.  (Two.  Wait—three?  No, definitely two.)  And even then, he had to know the person quite well….

Well.  There was the issue right there, then.  Right there, in a too-bright dress that Camilla had specifically selected to manipulate him.

 _It isn’t going to work, though._   Leo smiled pleasantly at Lord Nikos as he shot down the knight’s war-mongering and told himself that this was a far more important alternative to dancing with his possibly slightly attractive wife.

 

* * *

 

Lord Demetrius was one of a few nobles who asked Corrin to dance more than once.  She remembered what Leo had told her about him—that Demetrius was looking to seduce her—but they were in the middle of a massive crowd.  He wasn’t going to try anything.

And anyway, she kept feeling Leo’s eyes on her when her back was turned.  Watching, but still making no move to approach her.  If there was a way to get him to talk to her again, dancing with Lord “ _a bit of an ass_ ” Demetrius was a solid option.

The music didn’t feel magical anymore though.  It wasn’t that it wasn’t lovely, but by now… it mostly just felt lonely.  Maybe it didn’t matter how many people were clamoring for her attention, when the person she wanted to smile at her was still freezing her out.

As Lord Demetrius tried to coax her into dancing with him through another song, a hand tapped Corrin’s shoulder, where the fabric of her sleeve started.  Her heart skipped.

“May I borrow the lady for a few minutes?”

The voice was familiar.  Corrin turned, and her eyes widened.  “Niles,” she breathed.  Why did her heart sink so much when she saw him?  She knew, realistically, that Leo didn’t dance.  “Sure, that’s no problem.”

Demetrius pouted as Niles whisked her away.

Niles led her to a less crowded corner of the dance floor.  His moon-white hair was drawn back into a short tail, and despite the merriment surrounding them and the smile poised on his face, his eye was solemn.

“Lady Corrin,” he said, pulling her closer to whisper near her ear, “there’s something that we should clear up.”

Her blood flashed cold.  She remembered how bitter Leo had looked when he’d confronted her in the hallway.  Was this his retainer’s sequel to that?  Was he going to scold her now?

“Don’t get too worked up now,” Niles murmured.  “We’re in public, after all.”

“Wh-what?”

He chuckled as Corrin jerked away with a frown, but his face and tone soon softened.   “In all seriousness, though—you’re not wrong to be leery of trusting people.  A lot of them are shitty.  Plenty are willing to stab you from behind.”

He led Corrin in a circle, passing Camilla as she danced with a young noblewoman.  Niles shot his wife a broad wink over Corrin’s shoulder, or at least, what Corrin assumed was a wink.

“But Lord Leo has never been like that,” he said.  “He has no patience for fools or villains, but his heart is warm.  Incredibly so.  I mean, show him a no-good thief trying to rob him blind, and he’ll offer him a place by his side.  He would never betray you.  You know that as well as I do.”

Corrin nodded faintly.  Even when they had been on opposite sides of the war, even when Leo had _tried_ to bring himself to kill her…  She had witnessed the struggle in his eyes.  He hadn’t been able to do it, even when given a dozen chances.  Even at the risk of his life.

“You’re right,” she said quietly.  How could she have ever believed otherwise, even in the smallest corner of her mind?  “But then, what were you…?”

“He sent me out to look for information about the attacks,” said Niles, “on your behalf.  He knows you’ll sleep a lot easier once this is taken care of.”

She groaned, and a few of the nearby dancers peered at her in concern.  “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right, Lady Corrin,” said Niles loudly, covering for her.  “Accidents happen.  Everyone’s bound to step on a few toes.”

After the stares receded, Corrin flushed.  “Thank you.  I really am sorry.”

“Don’t mention it.”  He smirked.  “After all, your little ‘foot-stomping incident’ just made everyone forget about the first dance that Camilla brought _me_ to.”

She smiled.  “You’re a good person, Niles.”

“Actually, can you do me one favor after all?” he asked.

“Um… sure?” said Corrin.

“Never say that again,” he said, though his crescent smile glowed.  “It makes me sound so boring.”

 

* * *

 

Leo watched as Niles danced with Corrin—as her features shifted from trepidation to understanding to joy.  Of the three, she wore joy the best.  It made her eyes sparkle, visible even from Leo’s seat, brightly enough to rival the shade of her dress.

(Not that he was looking at that gods-damned dress.  Or the way it cleaved to Corrin’s body like a lover.  _Gods_.  That had to be custom-tailored.  He would have given Camilla an earful later, if he didn’t know that would just cement her victory in her mind.  No, he would never speak a single word about the dress.  He would purge its existence from his mind.)

After the waltz ended, Niles gravitated toward Camilla again.  Despite the fact that Leo had been aghast when he’d first learned of his retainer and his sister’s engagement, he had to admit that they complemented each other, in an odd way.  Amidst the crowds of nobles, few looked quite so happy as Camilla and Niles.

Was that what marrying for love was like?  He was glad that Camilla had gotten to experience it.  She’d been so desolate four years ago.  Niles and then Nina had been good for her.  She was overbearing, sure, but so terribly kind, and she deserved to be able to smile like this.  All the time.

If Leo hadn’t been king, he wondered… could he have found something like that someday?  Could he have allowed himself a pleasure like that?

His gaze returned to Corrin, the brightness of her dress and her hair like a beacon snatching his attention.  His stomach sank as he saw who she was dancing with now that Niles had withdrawn.

Lord Demetrius looked entirely too smug as he snaked his arm around Corrin’s waist.  He pulled her closer than was proper, and his dark eyes glittered with mirth.  He met Leo’s gaze over her shoulder and flashed him an innocent grin, but there was nothing innocent about the way his fingers lingered over the skin bared by the back of Corrin’s dress.

They would have made a striking pair: Demetrius’s roguish smile and dark hair paired with Corrin’s silvery-blond chignon and her innocence.  The rose of the young lord’s _boutonnière_ even complemented her gown and her eyes.  Except—

Leo ground his teeth.  _That’s my wife, you ass._

It wasn’t that he was jealous as a man.  His love for Corrin was a brother’s love, a friend’s love, not a man’s for his wife, whatever the official papers said.  But as a king, he was absolutely jealous.  This was unacceptable.  If Corrin wanted to carry on with another man in private, Leo could live with that, as long as they took plenty of precautions.  But dancing like this in the public eye—at Leo’s birthday banquet, of all things…  Was she trying to make Leo feel like he’d been slapped?

Demetrius’s hand slipped down to Corrin’s hip.  Leo glimpsed her face over his shoulder.  She’d gone wide-eyed and pale.

His anger wisped away, like smoke after he’d extinguished a candle.  His anger with her, at least.  Demetrius could choke on a fistful of thorns, for harassing Corrin in public like this.

He was out of his chair before Lord Nikos, or whomever his conversation partner had been, could finish his sentence.  He strode across the ballroom, and conversations paused.  Dancers stepped aside.  The crowds parted like the sea before him.  Sometimes, it was good to be king.

“Excuse me,” he said crisply.  He saw Lord Demetrius blanch.  “I’d like to dance with my _wife_.”

 

* * *

 

Corrin’s heart leaped at the sound of his voice.  She spun around, breaking free of the lord’s grip.  “Leo!”

“O-of course, Your Majesty!” Lord Demetrius stammered.

“Thank you very much,” Leo muttered as the lord hastily retreated.

His eyes were hard like dark shards of topaz, but they weren’t cold like she would have expected.  They were blazing.  An unwitting onlooker might have assumed that the expression on his face came from passion, from love, but Corrin knew better.  It was anger, not too far removed from his face when he’d executed Iago.

Still, she could have kissed him for saving her.  On the cheek, of course.

Leo’s gaze softened a little as he turned back to Corrin.  “Are you all right?”

Her nerves prickled under her skin, but she told herself to relax.  Demetrius was gone now.  She couldn’t feel his hands anymore, only aftershocks.  “It depends,” she said, injecting a teasing note into her words.  “Are you really going to dance with me?”

Leo hesitated, his gaze flickering down below her face for a split-second before he swallowed hard and corrected himself.  Pink roses blossomed on his cheeks.  Corrin was, at this point, completely _done_ with this gown—if Ryoma or Hinoka saw her now, they would be having a fit.

“Sure,” Leo said evenly.  “Why not?”

He settled his hands around her waist—not too low, and his touch faint like feathers—as the music spiraled around them.  Corrin reminded herself that, in the onlookers’ minds, they were used to touching each other by now.  She also reminded herself that she had no problem tickling him or elbowing him in the ribs if he said something mean, and dancing wasn’t _too_ different a beast from those.  She wrapped her arms around Leo’s shoulders and tried to make it look natural.  She leaned a little closer than she was comfortable with and tried not to blush.

As they swayed to the music, she whispered, “My hero.”

Corrin couldn’t see his face, as her chin was inches from resting on his shoulder, but as he cleared his throat, he sounded a bit uneasy too.  It was reassuring.  If she had to feel awkward, at least she wasn’t alone in the feeling.

“My duty,” he said.  Under his breath, he added, “Lord Demetrius is a bastard.”

The memory of the lord’s hands made her shiver, and Leo pulled her closer.  His heartbeat felt strong and steady against her.  She pictured him scowling at her previous dance partners over her shoulder, and she giggled.

“What?” he asked.

“In the illegitimate way?” she replied.  She wasn’t sure why she asked when she already knew what he meant.  Maybe she just wanted to hear it from his own mouth.  After his silent treatment, she wanted further proof that he still cared.

“No,” said Leo, “in the ‘trying to steal another man’s wife’ sort of way.  I ought to have him hung.”

Corrin adopted her most innocent tone of voice.  “If… if I was reading his implications correctly, he already _is_ hung, and quite well.  Though I don’t believe it myself.”

Leo sputtered.  His fingers tensed around her waist, and she felt several pairs of eyes swivel toward them.  “C-Corrin!”  She felt him draw a deep breath as he collected himself.  He dropped his voice.  “I can’t believe you just said that.”

She laughed.  “I’m not an innocent child.  I’m a married woman, after all.”

“Well… I mean, yes, but… it’s not like w…”  He trailed off, letting the music fill the silence.

She knew what he meant anyway.  It was that mountain that towered ahead of them that neither wanted to acknowledge, much less climb.  The people had no idea that their princess consort was actually an awkward virgin who wanted nothing more than a siblingly relationship with her king behind closed doors.

 _I mean, gods, it’s not like we’ve even_ talked _to each other in a week._

Guilt pummeled her in the stomach.  She tilted her head backward and met Leo’s eyes, an apology on her lips.  “I’m so…”

“I know,” he said.  His hair gleamed gold under the lights.  “Let’s talk things over from now on.”

Her cheeks warmed with happiness, and she hugged him close again, her cheek pressed into the crook of his neck.  “Thank you, Leo.”

They danced in silence for a minute, as the orchestra moved on to another song.  Camilla and Niles brushed past them, and Corrin spotted a smirk on her sister(-in-law)’s face.  She supposed Camilla’s plan had succeeded, in a roundabout way.  Leo’s hands had relaxed around Corrin’s waist.  His skin was warm against her cheek.

“So are you having a good birthday?” she asked him.

He thought for a moment.  “I feel old,” he said finally.

Corrin scoffed.  “You just turned twenty-two!  I’m two whole years older than you.  If you’re old, what does that make me?”

“Almost elderly,” Leo said without missing a step.  She looked up and saw the ghost of a smirk sitting comfortably on his lips.  “Why, you should be named one of the ancient wonders of the world.”

She subtly pinched his shoulder.  “You’re the worst.”

Leo tired of dancing soon after.  Corrin followed him off the dance floor and stayed by his side as he talked to a few nobles about a document she wasn’t familiar with.  It must have crossed his desk in the days when they weren’t speaking to each other.  She was eager to start helping him with his duties again.  Leo didn’t look like he’d been sleeping well.

She didn’t hear any more muttered comments about purely political marriages, which she took as a good sign.  After all, the conflicts between their countries had stopped for months after Corrin and Leo’s marriage.  If the people now saw that a princess of Hoshido and a king of Nohr had fallen in love, it would show them that peace was possible.

It didn’t matter if, behind closed doors, that love wasn’t real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well, there it is, the chapter I'd been anticipating. Hopefully it lived up to my hype for you guys, too? It's not, like, a kiss or anything, but I thought it was nice and I enjoyed writing it. And I really appreciate you reading it. Thanks!
> 
> Sorry, no long author's note this time. I kinda just woke up (yes, I know it's 1pm). Next chapter will see the return of some of my faves who I've missed writing... so take that as you will. Also, Corrin's birthday is coming up, so we'll see how that goes. Preview: _"Corrin, make up your mind."_


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